Sam Deering admits he is enjoying his football again and he hopes that approach can lead Whitehawk to new heights.

The 23-year-old midfielder joined Hawks in the summer after being released by Cheltenham Town.

Deering made 78 appearances in two seasons with Cheltenham, having previously played for Oxford United, Barnet and Newport County on loan.

However, he did not want to continue with full-time football when he became a free agent in the summer and his decision to join Whitehawk is already paying dividends.

Four goals in eight games is a good return for a wide midfielder but it is Deering’s all-round contribution which has impressed as Hawks look to put last season’s struggles behind them.

They are currently fifth in Conference south with a side rebuilt by manager Steven King and reaching the play-offs is the goal for a club which was playing in the County League as recently as 2010.

Deering is playing with a smile on his face and that is good for Whitehawk and their ambitions.

He told The Argus: “When I younger I was at Chelsea for a little bit but I did most of my time when I was young playing with my friends. That is where I enjoyed it.

“Going into full-time football when I was younger I did enjoy it but as it went on and on it wasn’t the thing I really wanted to be doing. Now playing for Whitehawk is making me enjoy it again and hopefully I can carry on enjoying it.

“My life has taken up and downs, at the minute I am on an up in my life and that is where I want to be.

“I wanted to play part-time football so I can get my head into a business and knuckle down. Playing for Whitehawk has helped me do that. It has given me the time to learn things and take me somewhere where I want to be in my life.”

Whitehawk want to be playing in the Conference national in the next couple of years.

King, their manager, achieved that before with Lewes and his determination to do it again appealed to Deering.

He said: “I spoke to Kingy. He told me where the club want to be and how they are going to go about it. It attracted me to the club.

“If we are honest with ourselves we can achieve anything we want to. If we said play-offs now everyone involved would be happy with that because it would be the furthest up the pyramid we have ever been as a club and it would be a good achievement for everybody.”