Defender Lee Vaughan has left AFC Telford United to go full-time with Kidderminster Harriers, declaring: “I need to push on.”

The 23-year-old has signed a two-year deal at Aggborough and will be playing under Steve Burr, his boss with the England C team.

He admits the chance to test himself in the Blue Square Premier was the deciding factor, even if it has proved hard to leave the Bucks.

“Even in the last few weeks coming up to signing for Kidderminster, I was going backwards and forwards in my mind over whether I should stay but I’m at a time where I feel I need to push on,” he said.

“I’ve kept holding on waiting for Telford to take the next step but it hasn’t quite happened.

“The chairman has let me go for free, which I appreciate. If I could have given something back to the club (in terms of a fee) I would have done, because of the brilliant fans.

Strange

“Telford will be the first result I look for in the future, it’s going to seem strange not wearing that white shirt.”

Looking ahead to life at Kidderminster, he added: “They’ve got a good manager who I got on with well from the England set-up.

“It’s a club going in the right direction and I hope we’ll be pushing for promotion — I wouldn’t be at a club prepared to settle for midtable.”

Meanwhile, Telford are inching ever closer to appointing a new manager, having held more interviews over the last couple of nights.

The club remain committed to an appointment by the week beginning May 24, but are staying tight-lipped about their contenders.

Names including Mark Cooper, Andy Sinton, Tim Flowers and Jeff Kenna continue to be linked, while Northwich chief Andy Preece and Stalybridge boss Jim Harvey are also thought to be in the frame.

By CHRIS HUDSON