DEON Burton hopes his brace in last night’s victory over Ipswich is the beginning of what will be a prolific season at the Valley.

The Jamaican striker, 32, converted two first-half penalties in the Addicks’ first home game since he netted a hat-trick on the final day of last season against another East Anglian club, Norwich.

And Burton is confident he can rise above the competition for places up front and be the man who fires Charlton back up to the Championship.

He explained: “I’m getting used to life at the Valley now and hopefully the next game I play here will be the first game of the season.

“Hopefully I’ll bang some more goals in.

“Anything can happen and Parky could make changes, so all I can do is work hard in training and hopefully be in the starting line-up next Saturday.

“Pre-season has been very tough and a bit different to what I’ve been used to at Sheffield Wednesday the last few years, but I’ll knuckle down and get on with it.”

He added: “It was good to get another 75 minutes under my belt and the team looked good in the first half.

“Obviously they made things more difficult in the second half but we still contained them a bit.

“To beat a team like Ipswich, who are probably going to be pushing for promotion in the Championship, stands us in good stead.

“If we’re picking up wins, obviously it helps us to go into the season on the back of victories.”

Burton also had praise for Addicks trialist and ex-Sheffield Wednesday team-mate Wade Small, who he hopes will eventually land a contract at the Valley.

The striker said: “I played with Wade at Wednesday. He’s a good, tricky winger and maybe we’ll find the money somewhere to get him on board.

“He’s been with the club for a few weeks and I don’t know what the situation is, but he’s a good lad to be around, so hopefully we can get him on board.”