Peterborough United's mining of the non-league talent seam has unearthed another potential gem in striker Shaun Batt, a £5,000 summer signing from Fisher Athletic. Batt became the Posh playing squad's 10th current member to join the club from outside The Football League when he came in from the Blue Square South outfit.

The League 1 club's recruitment policy has already paid huge dividends in the striking department, most notably through the goal returns of Craig Mackail-Smith - signed from Dagenham & Redbridge before they became a League club - and Aaron Mclean who came from Grays Athletic.

Both strikers have a tremendous scoring rate - better than a goal every two games since arriving at London Road - so 21 year-old Batt has a lot to live up to. But after being handed his first team chance following a September injury to Mclean, he has performed well and on Saturday hit his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win at Walsall.

It was only his third League start, but Posh have won all three in succession to move up to seventh in the table and only one point behind the Play-Off places. That will surely ensure Batt's continued presence in the starting line-up? Not according to the young striker himself. 'Even if the team's winning your place isn't safe," he says. "The competition for places we've got is frightening.

'Everyone knows about the partnership of Craig and Aaron, and Aaron was the top scorer in the League last season. So it was unfortunate he got injured, but that's how I got my chance and now it's up to me to keep my place.

'I was delighted to get my first goal for the club on Saturday though, especially as we went on to win the game, and hopefully there are many more goals to come.'

Although he is settling well into League 1 life and has a strong determination to keep his first team place, Batt retains a little wonderment at his elevation from the non-league ranks even though he might have landed in the south west rather than Peterborough.

'In the close season,' he explains, 'I was about to go to Bristol Rovers but the deal fell through and so I got my head round the fact that I was still going to be at Fisher.

'But then we beat Peterborough 2-0 in a pre-season friendly and I played quite well, and (Posh boss) Darren Ferguson asked me to come down. I played for Peterborough in a 2-0 win against Stevenage in a friendly and the manager said he felt he'd seen enough to take a chance on me.

'I'm really grateful for that and hopefully I can repay him on the pitch. So far I've started in the League against MK Dons, Leeds and Walsall, a lot different to the teams I was playing against before - it's a dream come true.'