Blues full back Ricky Bridge suspected his Newcastle Town team-mates were winding him  up when he heard Steve Burr was interested in signing him.

Left back Bridge checked into the Swansway Chester Stadium on February 28 and made his debut the following day in the 3-3 home draw with Nuneaton Town.

He stepped up from the Evo-Stik First Division South after his performances for the Staffordshire club came to the attention of Burr.

Bridge said: “It came out of nowhere to be honest.

“I was at work when I received a phone call from Ivan Lodge, my manager at Newcastle Town.

“He said that he’d had a phone call from Steve Burr and that he wanted to have a chat with me over the phone.

“I refused to believe it to begin with. I thought it was some kind of joke the lads at Newcastle had planned as they’re  always playing jokes on one another.

“I finally realised it wasn’t a joke when I had a missed call and a voicemail later that evening from Steve Burr.”

Stoke-born Bridge, 24, rang the manager back that night and was invited to join the squad for training and put pen to paper the next day.

“It all happened very quickly,” he said. “I trained on the Thursday and had a chat afterwards about signing with the club.  It didn’t take any persuading because I knew straight away that I wanted to sign and what a fantastic opportunity it was.”

Bridge, whose father managed his first junior team, had spells with the Port Vale centre of excellence and Manchester City academy before joining Leek Town aged 14.

He progressed through the ranks at Harrison Park but moved onto Alsager Town in search of first team football before spending three seasons with Kidsgrove Athletic.

Bridge returned to Leek for an 18-month spell but joined Newcastle in December 2012 and went on to establish himself as a key man for Castle.

He said: “I would probably say  my strengths are my crossing, set piece delivery and pace. I weighed with lots of assists at Newcastle this season from crosses and set pieces.”

Bridge has jumped up three leagues to join the Blues but there have been some encouraging signs in his appearances so far.

His initial deal runs until the end of the campaign but Bridge hopes to do enough between now and then to ensure he remains with the club for next season.

He said: “My aims are to adjust to Conference Premier football as quickly as possible and repay a bit of the faith that the manager has put in me by bringing me to the club from a lower division, as well as helping the club to secure its status in the Skrill Premier.

“I have found the tempo is a lot quicker than I have been used to at Newcastle but hopefully I can play as many games as possible and make sure that I’m still in the manager’s plans  going forward into next season.”