Eastleigh boss Paul Doswell tipped Sam Carter to be the next Kevin Phillips after watching the Saints reject score a brilliant hat trick against Fisher Athletic.

Doswell played former wing back Carter alongside Paul Sales in attack following some impressive performances as a striker in the reserves from the 21-year-old.

And it paid off at the Sparshatts Stadium on Saturday when Carter netted a treble as Eastleigh won 3-1.

Carter opened the scoring with a 20-yard screamer, then lobbed home the second to give Eastleigh a 2-0 half time lead before saving his best goal for last, beating two players before curling the ball into the top corner on the hour mark.

It drew comparisons with Phillips from Doswell as the Saints striker began his career as an apprentice right back at the Dell before making his name as a striker with Baldock Town.

He said: "It was a great hat trick from Sam, every goal was a gem, and I can see him doing a Kevin Phillips. It's taken him the best part of a year to get over being released by Saints but he's got loads of ability and he's now back to his best.

"At 21 he's got every chance of getting back into league football if he continues to play like he did on Saturday."

Doswell added: "Robbie Matthews had been a bit out of touch and Nicky Banger was suspended so I thought I'd play him alongside Paul Sales because he's done well up front in the reserves.

"It was a gut feeling, David Hughes agreed, and it paid dividends. His third goal was something special, his link-up play gave us a nice option as well as his goals and Paul Sales gave his best performance for us.

"It was the complete centre forward's performance from Sales without the goals, the two of them worked really well. Our first half performance was probably our best since I've been here."