MATT Fry says a huge part of his reason for leaving Concord Rangers to join Braintree Town was the appointment of manager Danny Cowley.

Cowley left the Beach Boys to link up with the National League side at the end of the season, with Fry following in his footsteps in the last week.

And he says the impact Cowley has had on his career is huge, with individual training programmes drawn up by his manager to ensure he wasn’t affected by a number of injuries suffered earlier in his career.

And Fry said, although leaving Concord wasn’t an easy decision, he was delighted to link up with Cowley once again.

“It is no secret that I have a good relationship with Danny,” said Fry, 24. “I turned down some pretty good offers before I came back to Concord last summer and it was a good move for me. Danny was one of the main reasons behind that and all the boys will tell you how much of a pleasure it is to play for him.

“When he got the job he gave me a call but it was all professionally handled and it was a move I was keen to make. Even though I didn’t have a contract I was still a Concord player and I wanted to respect that.”

Fry admitted he didn’t know a great deal about the club he has joined, but drew comparisons with Concord and said it was a challenge he was relishing.

“I played Braintree once in my days at Dartford and you always knew when you were heading to their place you were in for a tough game.

“It was the same at Concord and I am sure Braintree will be as tough to play against under Dan as they have been before.”

The centre-half has also given his backing to new Concord boss Adam Flanagan, who joined from Brentwood Town at the end of the season.

“I think Adam will do a great job,” he said. “He has managed to hold onto a large number of the successful squad from last year and it is always one of the first results I will look out for.”

Fry admitted he was still keen to get back into the professional game, having made more than 50 appearances in the Football League for Gillingham, Charlton Athletic and Bradford City.

And he says he feels he is still young enough to make an impact on that stage once again.

“I don’t think playing in the Football League will ever be rivalled,” he said. “It was a great experience but I want to have those experiences again. I am ambitious and I want to impress at the highest level I can.”