Aaron Chapman hopes his loan spell with Chester FC can help him continue his remarkable rise.

Four years ago the towering goalkeeper had never played competitive football but he is now reported to be on the radar of Premier League giants Everton and Liverpool.

Having played cricket in school, Chapman took up the game in 2009 when he decided to have a run out with his friends in the Sheffield Sunday League.

His team-mates felt his 6ft 8ins frame would be best suited to the role of target man but soon found himself tasked with stopping goals as opposed to scoring them.

“I went down with some mates for a game and ended up getting stuck up front,” said Chapman, who is on loan from League Two club Chesterfield.

“No one turned up one week and we didn’t have a keeper so I said 'go on then, I will go in goal’.

"I played in goal for my mate's Saturday team the week after and then a couple of months later I ended up moving on and playing higher up."

Chapman had been with Phoenix FC in the Central Midlands League before joining Northern Counties East League club Parkgate and then making the step up to the Evo-Stik League First Division South with Goole AFC.

Belper Town snapped him up in February 2012 and his impressive form for the Nailers attracted attention from a host of Football League clubs including Norwich City.

Chesterfield chief scout Paul Mitchell had spotted Chapman in his rookie days and the Spireites snapped him up over the summer.

“It’s all been pretty quick,” said Chapman, who signed a new two-year deal at the Proact Stadium last month.

Chesterfield boss Paul Cook rates the 23-year-old highly and has allowed him to train with Bolton Wanderers and Everton with Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers thought to be keen on taking a closer look too.

Chapman has not tasted first team football with the Spirietes and joined the Blues on loan to gain experience.

He continues to train with Chesterfield, working with experienced stoppers Tommy Lee and Ian Dunbavin and goalkeeping coach Eric Nixon

"It was quite tough at the start training every day and diving around on the floor all the time takes its toll but I got used to it," saic Chapman.

"Tommy and Ian are both good and experienced keepers with hundreds of league games between them so it's brilliant for me to training with them and learning.

"But I hadn't played a game for about six months before coming to Chester and it can be quite hard training all week and then not playing at the weekend."

Chapman had been close to joining the Blues in December under former manager Neil Young but his move was put on hold until new boss Steve Burr decided to bring him in.

"I'm not sure what happened really but I suppose it's a big gamble to to take a lad from nowhere and check them straight into the Conference," said Chapman.

"I think my name was mentioned again when the new manager took over and it's worked out really well for me."

Chapman made an impressive debut in the televised 2-1 win over FC Halifax Town but had to replaced on 70 minutes having dislocated a bone in his hand coming to collect a long throw.

"When you walk into the tunnel and see all the cameras you think 'what's all this about' but you soon forget it," he said.

"I was a bit edgy in the first 10 minutes because you don't want to make any mistakes but it was fine once I got my first touch and that went alright

"To be honest I should have punched the ball when I came to get the throw in but I tried to catch it. I took my glove off and I was thinking 'please don't be any blood'.

"The physio thought it looked broke and I wanted to stay on and said can't you just put it back in place but I ended up having to come off.

"I went to hospital and was disappointed when I found out it was dislocated but I would have been out for a while if it had been a break so it could have been worse."

Chapman made a rapid recovery and was back in goal for the 1-1 draw at Lincoln City and has performed well for the Blues, although like all goalkeepers admits he would like to concede less goals.

“The disappointing thing is that the goals we are conceding are sloppy and I'm part of that," he said.

“We’ve had some injuries and we've not played together much but I think we can definitely sort it out.

"The mood in the dressing room is really good and I was a bit surprised how upbeat everybody was when I got here.

"I spoke to some of the lads and they said it had been a bit depressing beforehand but everything here has been positive.

"A lot of the lads here are scousers and there are a few at Chesterfield and all scousers seem to know each other so that's helped me settle in."