Sterling-James hungry for Stags starting place

And the striker/winger underlined his determination with a hat-trick for the reserves at Rotherham United on Tuesday.

“He is still knocking on the door,” said manager Steve Evans.

“To be fair to him he turned a couple of options down to go on loan. He said ‘I don’t want to go, I want to stay here and compete to get in’.

“The same afternoon he went up to Rotherham and scored a hat-trick against an experienced Rotherham United side. That’s no mean feat.”

Evans added: “We are delighted for the kid. He is lovely and we think a lot of him.

“Competition should increase levels of performance and when they are given a starting shirt it has be valued, it has to be like being given a bar of gold.

“It’s treasure, so you have to do your best to keep hold of it and not just give it away.”