Cambridge City attacker Dan Cotton hits the ground running after move from Yaxley

Dan Cotton was well aware that his move to Cambridge City came with a heightened level of expectation.

The Lilywhites had scored as many goals as they had played games – 17 – across all competitions prior to his arrival from fellow Pitching In Northern League Midlands side Yaxley in November.

And having found the back of the net on 215 occasions from his 336 appearances in eight seasons at Yaxley, Cotton was the player that manager Robbie Nightingale charged with the task of improving City’s goal return.

It is a challenge Cotton has so far taken in his stride, with his 10 outings yielding a return of eight goals, including one in Saturday’s 2-0 home victory over Corby Town.

“With all the problems at Yaxley, I wasn’t enjoying my football and while it was difficult to leave given everything we’d achieved there, leaving was something that needed to be done,” said the 34-year-old.

“I’d actually not scored this season before joining City and that was disappointing, but I still knew that with my record over the last few years there was a bit of expectation and a bit of pressure to score goals.

“Scoring in my first three games really helped to take that pressure off. Those early goals stop any questions being asked and it’s nice to get off and running so early.

“I liked the plans the club had before I joined and the move has worked out really well so far.”

Cotton’s three goals have been crucial in City’s run of eye-catching successive 2-0 victories over promotion hopefuls Spalding and Corby, which came on the back of disappointing festive defeats to St Neots Town and Dereham Town.

That run of results sums up 14th-placed City’s season in many ways, but Cotton is hopeful that consistent form is on the horizon.

“Since I’ve come in we’ve had quite a lot of injuries and we’ve not been able to have a settled side,” he added.

“We were actually on a nice little run before the pitches froze before Christmas and then we came back and had those disappointing results.

“But we showed what we are capable of against Spalding and Corby.

“That is the level we’re capable of and with players now starting to come back I think we’re ready to push on.”

City will aim to put three straight league wins on the board for the first time this term when they travel to second-from-bottom Daventry Town on Saturday (January 21).