Assistant boss Erkan Okay paid tribute to Soham Town Rangers star Sam Mulready after the striker reached a milestone last Saturday.
The prolific frontman made his 100th appearance for the Greens in their 2-0 home defeat at the hands of table-topping Heybridge Swifts in the BetVictor North Division.
"Sam is a massive player for us," said Okay. "He's an important player but also a great lad to have round the place.
"He scores a lot of goals - including some very important ones - and his attitude is always spot-on.
"There has been plenty of interest in Sam - from clubs at our level and above - during his time with us and there is no denying that we are very lucky to have him.
"But he's loved by everyone at Soham and is enjoying his football with us.
"We want to kick on as a club and we hope Sam will be a part of that as he is very important in our plans going forward."
Mulready was unable to mark the occasion of his 100th Soham outing with a goal as they were beaten by high-flying Swifts.
They fell behind on the hour before being seen off by a controversial penalty with 15 minutes to go. The referee pointed to the spot even though Lee Chaffey's foul appeared to be outside the box.
"It was an evenly-matched first half and we competed really well in difficult conditions with the sun and defending against the wind," added Okay.
"But we didn't step it up in the second half and I don't feel like we really had enough belief to go and beat a side who have been right up there in the table all season."
Rangers responded with a terrific derby success last night as they triumphed 2-1 at Cambridge City.
They overcame the nightmare start of falling behind in the opening minute to turn the contest before the break.
Player-coach Lloyd Groves levelled with his second goal in three games when brilliantly heading in a Ryan Auger free kick.
And fellow defender Cameron Watson put them ahead on the stroke of the interval when volleying in an Auger corner.
"We showed real character and put in a proper team performance after a poor start to get a superb win," continued Okay.
"I couldn't be more proud of the squad and it was brilliant to have such a great following on a cold night."
Soham are back on home turf this Saturday when hosting relegation battlers Brentwood Town at Julius Martin Lane, 3pm.
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