Stuart Fleetwood could not hide his relief after finally break his goal-scoring duck in Sutton United colours.

The striker’s penalty in the 2-1 defeat at Bognor Regis Town on Tuesday may have been of little consequence, but on a personal note, it was massive.

Fleetwood, a summer acquisition after spending much of last season at Forest Green Rovers, made 31 appearances this season before opening his account.

Fleetwood's goal is the positive icing on a disappointment cake, says Baird

He did score in a pre-season clash in Jersey, and he also had a goal ruled out in the National League South win over St Albans City last month.

He said: “It was massive relief. It is so strange because it is the first time it has ever happened in my career that I have not been prolific, most seasons in my career I have at least got into double figures.

“It had been difficult, it had turned into a running joke in training that I had not scored for however long, but I have always kept plugging away – especially when I had the one against St Albans disallowed.”

He added: “I stayed patient, but hopefully now I will get a few more minutes with the injuries we have, I have been champing at the bit in training.

“We have a nice little run of games now and hopefully the goals will come, I am confident in that.

“I won’t be trying too hard like I was before, so hopefully it will come naturally now and we can push on for the points.”

Fleetwood won the penalty that he converted on Tuesday night, but he admitted that it was not a clear-cut call for the referee.

“I like taking penalties, and it was nice to see it go in. Now the gaffer might stop getting on my back so much,” he said.

“But I would not have complained had it not been given – at half-time, the ref asked “Did I get it right?”, which is very honest.

“I said ‘I thought he got a nick on the ball, but he had to come through me to get the nick’.

“But I think the ref got it the wrong way round because the foul on Bedsi [Gomis] about five minutes later was a penalty, which he did not give.”

Now United are out of the FA Trophy, Fleetwood’s focus is firmly on promotion out of National League South via either the play-offs or by finishing top of the table.

He said: “We were disappointed to go out of the Trophy, although we didn’t feel we did enough to win the game.

“Having been put back in, and to get as far as we did, we wanted to keep going – but it might be a blessing in disguise.

“Some of the lads were thinking of playing at Wembley and it has been good financially, but on the flip side we can now concentrate on the league and get everyone back fit and ready for the run in.”