HARRY Wheeler has called on Alfie Potter to stamp his authority on the Billericay Town squad after grabbing a brace of goals in the 7-2 pre-season friendly win over Grays Athletic.

The midfielder shone as Town continued their preparations for the upcoming National League South campaign at Parkside.

And Wheeler believes the 30-year-old is enjoying a new lease of life.

The Billericay boss said: "Alfie is getting better and better.

"He is getting back to his old ways and it looks like a new lease of life in him.

"Alfie was fantastic and that's what we want.

"We want people to be competing for places and stamping their authority.

"You could argue that would make our decisions easier coming up to the first game of the season but, on the other hand, it makes it harder if they're all doing it.

"So it's a case of weighing up between the two."

While Potter found the back of the net on two occasions, Jake Robinson completed a hat-trick and Adam Cunnington was also at the double.

And Wheeler was full of praise for his side as Billericay wrapped up a convincing victory on the manager's return to the dugout.

"It was good to get more minutes in the players' legs but I hate the term 'friendly' because I want to win every game," added Wheeler, who missed Town's first two pre-season outings against an All-Star XI and Southend United.

"I don't like playing games as friendlies and I don't like losing games, so we wanted to win the game.

"We wanted to be professional and relentless, which I think the players were overall.

"It was nice to be back in the dugout and see the lads.

"I've seen the other two friendlies on video but it's never the same.

"The lads done themselves justice because I thought they were all really good."

Like Wheeler, Moses Emmanuel had missed Billericay's first two warm-up encounters of the summer.

However, Emmanuel came on as a second half substitute at Parkside and Wheeler has backed the attacker to have another successful campaign.

"It was nice for Mo to get some minutes and you could tell he needed them because he was a bit rusty," admitted Wheeler.

"Mo is a fantastic footballer and he'll be brilliant for us this season.

"He just needed the minutes and hopefully he can build on that."