I had to move, says Burgess

The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international officially severed all links with Rovers at the weekend after agreeing to join Stockport County in a £450,000 deal.

But the 6ft 3in frontman has vowed to return to the big time one day after gambling on cutting his teeth with the Hatters in the Nationwide League.

"Obviously, it's not easy to leave a Premiership club but Carlton Palmer has been after me for a long time and that says a lot to me about his determination to bring me to the club," said Burgess, speaking exclusively to the Evening Telegraph.

"When I spoke to him what he told me about his plans for the future seemed pretty exciting and I wanted to be a part of it.

"So I just can't wait for the season to start now."

It was Burgess' form for Brentford during a loan spell last season which first brought him to the attention of Palmer.

And, after the County boss had an initial bid knocked back, he returned with a new offer last week which was deemed acceptable by Rovers.

However, the 20-year-old striker only agreed to the move after he was told that his chances of forcing his way into the first team at Ewood were limited during a heart-to-heart with manager Graeme Souness.

"It's a bit disappointing that I've not really had much of a chance to prove myself at first team level," said Burgess.

"I was hoping I might have got more of an opportunity but I half expected I wouldn't.

"At the end of the day, that's football and there's a lot of good strikers at Blackburn so there's no point moaning about it, you've just got to knuckle down and get on with it.

"Once the bid was accepted, I rang Mr Souness to ask him what he thought and he was honest with me which is what I needed.

"He said he wasn't pushing me out of the door but I wasn't going to get much of a chance, so that's when I made up my mind because I want to play first team football.

"In many ways, the manager said it's a bit like the situation he found himself in at Spurs where he had to make a move for the sake of his career because sometimes you have to take a step down to make the step back up again.

"I've been at Blackburn a long time and I've got a lot of people to thank for where I am now, like Rob Kelly and Bobby Downes.

"But it was time to move on."

Now Burgess will focus all his energy on firing the goals to get Stockport out of the Second Division following the disappointment of relegation last season.

And his determination to prove he could still have a career at the highest level is all the motivation he needs to make a success of his move to Edgeley Park.

"I want to do it for myself more than anything," said Burgess, who has signed a four-year contract with County.

"Athe moment I'm not thinking about getting back in the Premiership, I'm just concentrating on doing my best for Stockport.

"However, if I can prove a few people wrong along the way then so be it.

"I proved last season that I can score goals in the Second Division and I had a good time at Brentford.

"There were a lot of good young players there and from what I've seen it seems the same at Stockport, too, so I'm looking forward to it."

Meanwhile, Carlton Palmer admits the signing of Burgess represents something of a gamble.

But the former England midfielder is convinced the young striker could turn out to be a shrewd investment for the future, which is why he decided to make him the second most costly signing in Stockport's history.

"We've bought potential. And there's no guarantee that Ben will help us win promotion," said Palmer.

"But his season at Brentford showed what he can do in Division Two because he scored plenty of goals."

Rovers will receive an initial fee of £450,000 but they have built a substantial sell-on clause into the deal.

Meanwhile, rumours persist that midfielder David Dunn will be subject to a £10million bid by Newcastle this week, though before the end of last season the England under-21 international skipper insisted he would not be leaving Ewood.