Winger Steve Spriggs paid tribute to his right-sided partner after bagging a hat-trick during King's Lynn Town's FA Trophy rout at the weekend.

Goal-machine Spriggs inspired the Linnets to a thumping 6-1 triumph over higher-level Carshalton Athletic to book their place in today's third qualifying round draw.

However, after taking home his fourth match ball in Lynn colours, Spriggs moved quickly to praise his blossoming understanding with right-back Ross Watson – who hit the bar twice as he nearly bagged a treble during a marauding display of his own.

Spriggs, who has now scored a stunning 57 goals in 115 appearances for The Walks outfit, said: 'Ross, for me, has been brilliant this season. He backs me up, supports me, and gives me the ball when I need it.

'I think he's come in for some criticism about whether he can play right-back and I think he showed on Saturday, again, that he's more than good enough to play there for Lynn – and at a higher level.

'I can't see why some of the fans have questioned whether he is good enough to play right-back because on a personal note he's been fantastic.'

Ola Sogbanmu put Carshalton ahead before goals from Spriggs – one of which came from the penalty spot after the visitors' Pico Pelayo Gomez had been sent off – saw Lynn lead at the break.

Lynn's in-form winger then smashed home a 25-yarder to help complete his side's win – which he believes they fully deserved.

The hat-trick hero said: 'The last two games we hadn't really turned up and we knew we needed a big performance. I thought we started well, even though we went 1-0 down, and looked the better team.

'I've always enjoyed scoring goals and to get a hat-trick was great on a personal note – but to be fair we played really well.

'After they went down to 10 men I think we struggled for 10 to 15 minutes but when we came out second half we were in cruise control. We popped it about really well and looked miles better than them.'

Russell Dunkley, Danny Beaumont and Jason Turner also found the net as Gary Setchell's men stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions.

A delighted Lynn boss said: 'People say we won 6-1 because of the red card but I don't think it had any bearing on the result.

'After the first half-hour I didn't ever think we were in for a tough day and I always thought we were comfortable enough to win the game. Apart from the sloppy goal we conceded – it was a fantastic day all round.'

- Click on the related link to see a match report, photo gallery and video highlights from Saturday's game.