LIAM Whipps feels Halstead Town is an ideal home for him during his loan spell from Witham Town.

The 21-year-old Witham full-back is highly-regarded at the Village Glass Stadium, where he has come up through the club’s youth and reserve ranks before breaking through into the first-team last year under former manager Adam Flint.

He is now looking to make an impact under current boss Mark Ashford, but with recent first-team opportunities in short supply, he felt a loan spell was necessary to make sure he was fully prepared when needed by his home club.

And Halstead have ticked all the boxes for him.

The chance to work with another well-respected coach in Humbugs boss Mark McLean was a big factor in his choice of temporary club and the fact that Halstead are in the heart of a promotion battle in Thurlow Nunn League division one south is another big plus for the ambitious defender.

“Halstead is a great club for me to come to,” he said.

“I’ve known Mark (McLean) for a long time as he’s someone I’ve played against for five or six years when I’ve been playing reserve team football for Witham.

“I know how he works so when it came to the choice of club to head to, I said ‘what about Halstead?’

“And coming into a team fighting for something is important.

“This loan move is a confidence thing for me as well as I need to play with confidence, so to play in a team that is fighting at the top of the league is really important. We know that if we play to how Mark wants us to, then we will get the results and confidence comes from that.”

Whipps said he was happy working with Halstead, but was ready to return to Witham when they required him to help in their own push to get themselves up the Bostik League division north table.

He added: “We’re just taking it month by month at the moment.

“Nothing is set in stone and I’m still training with Witham so we’re taking as it comes.

“I’m just enjoying learning from two good managers who are teaching me different things about the game.”