Salford City striker Luke Armstrong outlines ambitious goal scoring target for Hartlepool United after scoring nine goals in first 14 National League matches

The Salford City loanee currently sits six goals behind the National League's current top scorer Michael Cheek, who has scored 15 times for Bromley so far this season.

But with Armstrong currently boasting one of the best goals to game ratios of any striker in the division, he’s backing himself to get in and amongst the fifth tier’s top scorers come the end of the season.

“I’m just going to try and score as many goals as I can,” he told The Mail.

“I’m not going to lie, I look all the time and see who is scoring in the league and seeing how close I am to getting to the top because it’s a nice little bit of motivation to win the golden boot and that’s your target as a striker.

"But over the past week, I’ve only got one goal and it should have been three or maybe four. I can’t complain because I’m getting chances, if I wasn’t getting chances then I’d be looking at myself and be frustrated.

“The team is a dream to play in. [Jamie] Sterry and Fergie [David Ferguson] make unbelievable chances for us with the quality of the balls they put in.

"It’s probably the best I’ve had from playing at any time really, the quality and consistency is unbelievable. All I’m thinking about is getting between the sticks and getting a connection.”

Armstrong arrived at Pools back in December with a good reputation for scoring goals in the north east at non-league level.

While the 24-year-old backed his ability to get goals for Pools when he first arrived, he has been surprised by just how big an impact he has made.

“It’s been better than I thought to be honest, I back myself but I probably wasn’t expecting to score nine goals by this point,” he added.

"A goal every other game would have been a good target for me so to get over that is really pleasing for me.

"It’s gone better than I expected and the most important thing is that we’re winning games and hopefully that continues to be the case.”

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