CHRIS Flood has revealed that boss Ashley Vickers was a key factor in his decision to stay at the Avenue Stadium.

The 21-year-old arrived on loan early last month and bagged two goals in five appearances, including the winner against Weston-super-Mare almost a fortnight ago.

Flood returned to his parent club Crawley Town but soon found he was surplus to requirements.

And after negotiating a settlement on his Broadfield Stadium contract, the lively forward rejoined Dorchester on a permanent basis.

The former Salisbury City man was more than happy to sign a deal lasting until the end of the current campaign, highlighting the influence of the Magpies’ chief.

He said: “I like the way he works. He has been really good to me, really supportive, and he’s one of the main reasons why I decided to stay.

“He looks out for me and wants to develop my game. Playing games regularly will help me do that and I believe I have a lot more to offer.

“I had a good season with Salisbury in the Conference National last year but they had to drop down two divisions and I was rather lucky to go to Crawley.

“However, I didn’t really enjoy it there because I wasn’t playing, which is really frustrating at a young age.

“I’m at Dorchester now and it’s good to be playing regularly and enjoying it.

“I have signed until the end of the season and we’ll see what happens then. I would like to be full-time again but I’m not in a rush to do it. The main thing for me is to be playing football.”

Since arriving at the county town club, Flood has been impressed by the atmosphere within the dressing room, as well as the efforts of his strike partner – leading marksman Ryan Moss.

He added: “They had a bad month in January but they are a really good bunch of lads. The spirit is really good and that was another reason why I joined permanently.

“I like Mossy, he works really hard for the team, he wins his headers and I try to play off him as much as I can. It seems to work well.”

The Magpies are preparing for back-to-back home fixtures, with Bromley set to visit the Avenue on Saturday (3pm) and Dartford the opponents on Tuesday night (7.45pm).

Two positive results could help the club climb further away from danger in Blue Square Bet South.

And Flood is keen to extend their four-match unbeaten run. He said: “I just want to see us stay unbeaten. Obv-iously I want to win games but after the run we had in Jan-uary, it’s important to stay unbeaten.”

Meanwhile, the contract of striker Matt Groves has been cancelled, with the club stalwart set to join rivals Weymouth.

* It is believed that Weymouth chairman George Rolls is advising Kidderminster Harriers with an independent financial review.

The Blue Square Bet Premier side almost entered administration last week.