ADAM Goodwin caught up with one of Basingstoke new summer signings midfielder Sam Deadfield, to talk about his time at Birmingham City, joining Basingstoke Town and his verdict on their start to the season.

Deadfield has made an impressive start to his career at the The Ark Cancer Charity Stadium.

The 19-year-old, who joined the club in the summer after a spell at Beaconsfield, has already scored three goals this campaign.

This included the final one in the Dragons 4-0 win in the FA Cup when they beat Bemerton 4-0 in the first qualifying round.

This earned Basingstoke another home time with National League South outfit Hungerford this Saturday.

Deadfield has assured fans that although a good cup run is important to the Dragons, their target for this season is promotion.

“If we can get as far as we can in the FA Cup, especially with all the young players we’ve got, it’ll be a real bonus,” said Deadfield.

“Obviously we want to do as well (in the league) as we can.

"The target at the start of the season was to get promoted back to the National League South.

"Automatic promotion will be what we want but we need to get to the play-offs, at least.”

At the moment this looks a long way away, but it is a long season and the Dragons are sure to roar soon.

Deadfield added: “As a team we started a bit slow, being a completely new team it took us time to gel.”

“But I think once we got a few wins under our belts and a few points on the board, we started to get more confidence and gel as a team and hopefully we can keep it going.”

He also regarded the manager as one of the main reasons why he joined the club.

The teenage midfielder said: “I spoke to Terry Brown before signing and he said he’s really keen on getting young players in who are able to play week in week out in front of a decent crowd.”

“For me, it was definitely the best move, I’m happy I’ve joined.”

Deadfield was at Birmingham City for two years and scored in their FA Youth Cup victory against Liverpool - a game that featured players such as Liverpool youngster Sheyi Ojo, Watford striker Jerome Sinclair and Sergio Canos who is currently at Norwich City.

Deadfield was full of praise for the Birmingham youth system and felt his time there improved him as a player.

“It improved my game massively, working with top coaches every day definitely helped me. It gives you a taste of what it will be like, or what it could be like to be a professional footballer.”

His long time ambition is returning to the top divisions.

Deadfield said: “My aim is to play in the Premier League.

"I work hard every day and I try and better myself to be able to push myself towards that sort of level.”