DORCHESTER Town midfielder James Granger insists he enjoys playing under pressure after joining the Magpies from Basingstoke Town.

Granger, 22, is relishing the challenge of keeping Dorchester in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier South, with Callum Brooks’ men perched eight points above the drop zone with five games left.

The former Poole loanee, who has made two brief appearances for Dorchester off the bench, told Echosport: “I love a challenge, I like playing under pressure.

“I just want to get as many minutes as I can and help the team pull even further away from relegation towards the end of the season.

“And just get some positive results because they’ve been on a great run. Hopefully I can help that as much as I can.”

Granger moved from the Dragons in a bid for more game time after struggles with injury.

He said: “I’ve been out with injury for a long time but I’m back totally fit now.

“It’s just a timing thing, I spoke to Cal to come and train and get an opportunity. I’m buzzing just to get some minutes.

“Everyone’s a real family, everyone looks after each other. I’ve been made to feel really welcome and the lads are quality. Everyone from the kit man (Derek Taylor) to Cal himself.

“Sometimes you go to different places and it’s cliquey. Everyone’s together and encouraging each other all the time.

“I’ve been here a couple of weeks now and I’ve just been made to feel part of the team, so that’s really good.”

Having worked with Brooks at Poole, Granger admitted his decision to link up with the former Hamworthy boss at Dorchester was a simple one.

He said: “It was very easy. The main thing is training, for me. The sessions we used to do being on loan from Eastleigh were really enjoyable.

“That was a no brainer for me. In games, when I played for Poole, he was really positive towards me and wanted me to get on the ball and do what I can do.

“So he’d give you a free rein to do whatever you wanted to do really, which was great with freedom but with structure.”

Granger came on in the 79th minute of the Magpies’ 3-1 loss to Beaconsfield on Saturday and made an impact with two goalbound shots, one deflected for a corner and the other forcing a mistake from Rams’ keeper Ravan Constable.

Commenting on his performance, Granger said: “I had a couple of opportunities, the one that went just past the post got deflected wide otherwise that was going top corner!

“But it was good that we got a penalty. We had a couple of chances from some of the other lads as well.

“I just tried to make an impact when I came on. We weren’t quite there but we’ll bounce back and put another run together.”

Asked whether he had one eye on next season, Granger said: “Potentially, I’d just like to take one game at a time. I think all the lads are like that.

“It’s just building for next week. From my personal point of view it’s exactly the same, just train through the week, get another good session.

“There’s no point looking too far ahead because things change really quickly.”