TEENAGER teenager Rory Huntbach believes joining Shrewsbury Town will push to him to where he wants to be.

The 17-year-old has left Hereford to join the League One side after training with the team in February.

Huntbach confirmed that he didn't sign a second year deal at Hereford and will be on a contract at Shrewsbury.

“I think it is a great move for me and will give me the best chance to get a professional contract,” said Huntbach, who is from Tenbury.

“It will give me the opportunity to play against Premier League clubs which I think will push me on to where I need to be.

“I will also be training more frequently so will become fitter and stronger which is another bonus of making the move.

“This has been an incredibly tough decision for me as I have been a fan of Hereford since the age of 10.

“The lads have been great to me, helping me settle in to the team and helping me to progress, so it has been a really hard decision to walk away.

"I’d like to thank the board of directors for giving me the opportunity of signing last year, and all the fans for backing me whenever I got on the pitch.

“To play in front of 3,000 fans at the age of 16 is something I will never forget.”

Huntbach said he first heard about Shrewsbury’s interest in February when Hereford manager Pete Beadle told him they wanted him to train with their scholars during the half-term break.

“Pete and the club were happy for me to do this and I was happy to go up and get the extra training as I spent my under-15 season playing at Shrewsbury,” said Huntbach.

“It was a good opportunity to go back and see some of the lads and the coaching staff.

“It was noticeably very professional and the tempo and quality was very high, so I really enjoyed the week training up there.

“They then approached me to sign for them but I was always adamant that I didn’t want to be a scholar as it would mean I could no longer carry on with my A levels.

"I got A’s and A*’s in my GCSE’s, so the option of taking a BTEC along with the scholarship did not appeal to me.

“However, they have bent over backwards to accommodate me and are putting me on a contract which will to allow me to continue with my A level education whilst training and playing along side their scholars.”