Crawley boss Steve Evans believes there is more to come from hat-trick hero Charles Ademeno.

But Evans is not certain Ademeno will be able to fulfil his potential in a Crawley shirt.

Evans turned down a bid for his 21-year-old striker before watching him sink Grays with a hat-trick in four minutes two seconds against Grays on Monday.

League One play-off chasers MK Dons had a bid for Ademeno rejected earlier in the season and Evans expects more interest during the transfer window for the former Southend hit-man.

Evans said: “When I signed Charlie in the summer I said he was the best signing this club has ever made and our co-owners Bruce Winfield and Susan Carter backed my valuation of Charlie at that time.

“I would like to think we will still have him at the end of the transfer window but the honest answer is I don’t know.

“But the club and our supporters have to live in the real world. It is hard for Susan Carter and Bruce Winfield who are putting in £30-40k a month. Some people would love to earn that in a year but they are wealthy people who are in the position to do that.

“We are fortunate that they are able to do that and without them we would not be playing in the Conference – parks football comes to mind.

“We want Charlie to stay so we can build for next season but that decision ultimately lies with others.”

Ademeno scored his first goal for three months in the Boxing Day draw against Eastbourne Borough but that was just a warm-up to what happened at Grays.

His goals were timed at 1:45, 4:15 and 5:47 and although his hat-trick is believed to be the quickest Conference premier hat-trick, Gateshead’s Lee Novak did score one in less than four minutes in Conference north in November 2008.

Evans added: “He is a special talent who has to be managed properly. I was told to look after him and he has been like a son to me and we are now starting to see the best of him and there is a lot more to come from Charlie as well.”