TOM Ranger has backed himself to bridge the gap after jumping two divisions to join Concord Rangers.

Ranger, 22, has set the Ryman One North alight with a series of sparkling displays for Great Wakering Rovers this season and that has not gone unnoticed by National League South’s Concord.

After watching Ranger score his 11th goal of the season for Rovers in a 3-2 win over Aveley at the start of the month, his last appearance for the club, Beach Boys boss Adam Flanagan made his move.

Ranger came off the bench for the final four minutes of Concord’s 3-0 win at Weston-Super-Mare on Saturday and he is now targeting more minutes as the season goes on.

“My first impression is a really positive one,” said Ranger, who scored 24 times in 57 games for Rovers after joining from Hullbridge Sports at the start of the 2014-15 season. “Adam was saying how big a step up it is and I saw that within about 10 minutes of joining in with training last Thursday. It is a lot quicker but that can only improve my game and that excites me.

“It is a good bunch of boys and they really helped me on Saturday which I appreciated. When I came on they were looking after me and there was a lot of talking “I don’t want to set my goals too high just yet as I haven’t bedded in properly yet but I just want to make an impression on the first team at the moment. If, by the end of the season I can be a regular in the starting XI then that would be great for me.”

Ranger says he has offers from Ryman Premier League and Ryman One North sides after Dan Trenkel resigned as Rovers boss last month, but said when Concord came calling he had to make the move.

“After Trenks left I had a couple of offers to go but I didn’t feel like it was right and I wanted to play under Gary (Ansell) because he, like Trenks, has always been really good to me,” he said.

“But Adam got in touch and I just thought this would be too good an opportunity to turn down.

“I spoke to Gary about it all as well and he asked me to think about it for a bit before I made a decision and I did that but they put in a seven-day approach and I wanted to give it a go.

“I am a confident person and, although this is a big jump, I believe I can be successful here,” he said. “The main thing is fitness for now and once I have nailed that down I will be in a much better place.”