James Morrish gave up the Whitstable captaincy to join Kent rivals Hythe because he believes the Reachfields outfit are a bigger club.

That’s the view of Hythe manager Scott Porter, who fought off interest from Ramsgate to sign the highly-rated midfielder on Friday night.

Morrish impressed on his Hythe debut against Burgess Hill on Saturday and Porter was thrilled to have got his man.

He said: "I was on at him all week, talking to him and I didn’t give up. I got it done on Friday night. Ramsgate were after him as well.

"He was the captain at Whitstable and they’re going OK but he sees us as a bigger club and it’s a new challenge for him.

"We want to get out of this league and he liked what he saw.

"It took a while to get him because he had to make sure he was making the right move.

"He’s one of the best midfielders in the league. He’s full of energy and he gets on the ball. James came in and had a fantastic debut and he’ll only get better with games."

Hythe lost 3-1 at Maidstone in the Robert Dyas League Cup on Tuesday night. They travel to Peacehaven & Telscombe on Saturday.