Boss praise for striker who has stepped up to the plate and scored three goals in a week.

David Artell has told the club’s official website that Chuma Anene has had to wait patiently for his opportunity but a hamstring injury suffered by leading scorer Chris Porter has opened the door for him in the past week.

The on-loan forward has grabbed that chance with both hands, scoring three goals to put us through to the third round of the FA Cup and opening the scoring against Mansfield Town at the weekend after another assist from Charlie Kirk. He now has five for the season and could yet challenge Porter for the Top Scorer award.

The Alex boss said of his 26-year-old Norwegian: “Chuma is a good player. He has had to be very patient because of the form of Chris, probably too patient, but he has had his chance now and he proved he was ready.

“He scored two good goals against Eastleigh and got another one here, which will do his confidence no harm at all.

“He is doing all you can ask of him. He knows he has to influence the game a bit more than he did in the second half but he is still learning from us.

Artell added: “Chuma is a terrific fella, he listens and wants to learn. He is very coachable and he has all the tools to be a success. He is very receptive and it is up to me, Kenny and Alex to get even more out of him and make him even more effective in the games.”