Young defender completes move to The Walks from Bury Town after seven-day approach by Linnets

A cup appearance at The Walks convinced defender Jake Kerins that he would one day put pen-to-paper for King's Lynn Town.

Kerins - who completed his move to the Linnets from Bury Town on Thursday night - was part of the Mildenhall side that caused one of the shocks of the First Qualifying Round last season.

And it was while he was standing in the tunnel prior to the trophy clash that Kerins envisaged a future opening.

Kerins said: "Being in the tunnel before the game, it gave me a taste that one day I would like to progress and be on the other side or play for a club like King's Lynn.

"I want to play as high as I can so whenever we played a so-called bigger team you always want to progress yourself and think maybe one day I could get the opportunity at somewhere like this.

"When we first found out that we were coming here to play we were expecting a tough game. Then in the build up to the game Lynn signed Grant Holt and other big names were also here.

"We knew that it's a big club so we were all looking forward to it. I was especially looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd."

Kerins, who scored three goals in 22 appearances for the Blues after arriving at Bury from near-neighbours Mildenhall in the summer, revealed that Lynn's move for his services took him completely by surprise.

"I'm delighted to be here, but it came as a little bit of a shock and it was out of the blue," he admitted.

"But when I heard about it I was buzzing and I thought what an opportunity for me. I was over the moon.

"I signed for Bury in the summer and I was there for a few months. I thought I'd been playing well for the time I was there. It surprised me about Lynn being interested at first, but I was still excited about it."

The youngster admitted that he is looking forward to playing under Linnets boss Ian Culverhouse after a good grounding with both Norwich City and Shrewsbury in his teenage years.

"I'm sure it will be brilliant to work with Ian as his wealth of experience speaks for itself," said Kerins.

"You only have to look at how many games he played and obviously being a manager and some of the clubs he's worked at, that was a big part in making the decision for me as well.

"I'm sure I'll be able to learn a lot from someone with a wealth of experience. Coming here with the experience of the gaffer and the players as well, in my mind I want to be a sponge and soak it all in."

The Histon-based full-back's dream remains to eventually play in the Football League.

"I was at the Norwich academy between 14 and 16, then I moved to Shrewbsury for my scholarship," said Kerins.

"It didn't work out as well as I thought it would have. I picked up a long term injury there so I missed the first year.

"All my life I've wanted to be in professional football and I've had a bit of a taste of it.

"But when you drop out, it makes you even more hungry to try to get back to where you were in full-time football."