Sutton United boss Ian Hazel has conceded a top 10 finish is the best his side can hope for, despite watching his team rack up their third four-goal haul of the season on Saturday.

Livewire striker Warren McBean celebrated signing a contract for United with his eighth goal in eight games to set his team on their way to a 4-0 victory over fellow Conference South strugglers Hayes.

The 20-year-old joined Ross Gaynor, who extended his loan stay from Millwall until the end of the season, in committing himself to United's cause last week.

And Hazel believes he can quash talk of relegation and fire Sutton into the top half.

"It was always going to be a big five matches for us around Christmas and you can't be displeased with that start," said Hazel, whose side have Farnborough Town (twice), Bognor Regis Town and Eastleigh on the horizon.

"But we need to defend better than we did on Saturday. We gave them too many chances through sloppy errors and better teams will punish us.

"The play-offs are probably beyond us now but a top 10 finish would be nice at this stage.

"Every manager is after a striker who can score goals, so having Warren sign is a huge bonus.

"The future of the club is looking good and we are happy with the way we are moving forward, with some exciting youngsters coming through."

Tony Quinton opened the scoring on Saturday when he latched on to a Matt Gray cross in the 37th minute, before McBean's curling effort doubled the lead a minute later.

Former St Albans frontman McBean made it three with 20 minutes left and defender John Scarborough completed the rout in the dying seconds.

United enjoy a break before facing an improving Farnborough on Boxing Day to start a run of four matches in 11 days.

"We have picked up the results recently and we can't let Saturday's win be a one-off," added Hazel.

"We just need to start putting together a little run. It is a little tough to have break because you want to keep playing when you are doing well.

"But, hopefully, we can get everyone fit and fresh for a heavy schedule.

"If we do well in the next four games we can start looking up with confidence."

l Sutton United won 1-0 at Corinthian Casuals in the Surrey Senior Cup on Tuesday despite a low-key performance.

It was one of those nights for Zak Graham, who had United's best four chances and missed the lot.

The winner came in the second half when Alan Bray headed in from a corner.