King's Lynn Town youngster Chris Ward has been tipped for a bright future by his temporary boss.

The reserve-team regular impressed Matt Henman during Dereham Town's 2-2 draw at Harlow Town last Tuesday night after signing dual registration forms with the Ryman Division One North club.

And the Magpies' manager believes the defender has the talent to succeed at a much higher level than he is currently playing with the Linnets' second string.

Henman said: 'Chris did really well. If I'm honest I hadn't seen him play and I took him off recommendations from Gary Setchell (Lynn first-team boss) and Neil Fryatt (Lynn assistant). They were both spot on.

'They said he has a great attitude, which he did, and he was well organised and has all the right attributes for this level. I'll be speaking to King's Lynn about whether we can keep him for a bit longer but that's their decision. We can form a bridge for Lynn between reserve-team football and their first team. We needed a left-sided defender and he came in and done a very good job for us.'

The 'loan' arrangement allows the 20-year-old to play for his club's first and reserve teams as well as Dereham in league competition because they all play at different levels of the non-league ladder. Ward, who usually appears in the Peterborough Premier Division – three tiers below Dereham – has started one senior game for The Walks outfit. That came in last term's League Cup against Stamford.

At the weekend, Ward featured for Jonathan Hawes' Lynn reserves during their 2-0 home win over Uppingham Town and is poised to play for the club's first team at Worksop Town in the Doodson Sports Cup first round this evening.