CHELMSFORD City’s Danzelle St Louis-Hamilton reckons having two goalkeepers at the club with the potential to hold down a regular place in the first team can only benefit the squad as a whole.

Former Stoke City keeper St Louis-Hamilton linked up with City in mid-February to add competition for places with Stuart Searle, the 22-year-old arriving at a time when the first choice keeper was recovering from injury and on-loan Arsenal man Reice Charles-Cook required an operation on his finger.

Now St Louis-Hamilton has earned selection in the last two matches on merit, standing out in Monday’s 2-1 home win over Tonbridge Angels, and he’s convinced the pair can combine.

“We work together like we’re a unit and push each other to do our best for the team to win,” said Danzelle, who has previously appeared between the sticks for Darlington and, most recently, Telford in the Conference Premier.

“If I’m playing, Stuart works me and if he’s playing, I work him to make sure I get the best out of him. It’s better for both of us if you push each other to the end.”

He’s now putting what he learned at Stoke into practice as he starts to settle down with some impressive performances under Glenn Pennyfather at Chelmsford.

He continued: “I was on the bench a few times at Stoke and was pretty much training with them every day. Obviously there are so many other high profile keepers there so it’s hard for a young keeper to go and play in the Premier League straight away.

“Coming here is a bonus for me. I’m still young and I’ve got the determination to make it.

“I was out of a club after leaving Telford. So I just rang up the club and asked if it was all right for me to come down and train. The gaffer said yes so I worked hard to make sure he knows I’m good enough to play in the side.

“He’s made sure I go through the right steps to get me playing. I think I’ve done well so far so I want to keep working hard, concentrating and improving.

“I’m feeling pretty good. At most clubs I’ve been at I’ve been on the bench, waiting for the chance to play and get a look in. The gaffer gave me that chance. There’s room for improvement, but I think my performance has been good.”

City secured a 2-1 victory at Eastbourne Borough last Saturday before the Tonbridge win, moving into fourth place prior to Tuesday’s games.

Danzelle recalled: “I’d rather have a clean sheet against Tonbridge, but it’s better than a loss.

“We got a 2-1 win and will hopefully keep pushing on and get wins until the end of the season. If we get on a good run it will put us in good stead if we make the play-offs.”

He was called upon to make several crucial saves against Tonbridge as Chelmsford defended a 2-0 interval lead to eventually win by a single goal as the visitors increased their attacking threat.

He added: “I want to make sure I get there and dive at every single ball. You never know – if you dive you might get a finger to it and it might go round the post. Always make yourself an opportunity.”

Chelmsford host mid-table Basingstoke Town on Saturday at 3pm, the team who denied them a play-off place on the final day of last season, so Pennyfather will aiming to gain revenge.

Then relegation-threatened Maidenhead United visit on Monday night at 7.45pm before the Clarets bring down the curtain on their regular season the following Saturday away at Farnborough.

Danzelle said: “There are three games left, so anything could happen. “Two of them are at home, which is better because we’ve got the fans behind us.

“Every game must be a win for us. We can’t lose it now because we’ve been up there from the start of the season. We need to make sure the club is exposed to get more people to watch the games and make it a better atmosphere.”