EOGHAN O’CONNELL says he jumped at the opportunity to join Wrexham and be part of an exciting project at The Racecourse.

O’Connell only moved to Charlton Athletic last summer after his contract at Rochdale expired but the centre-back has swapped League One for a National League title challenge with the Reds.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was seeking defensive reinforcements after Jordan Tunnicliffe and Aaron Hayden picked up injures in Sunday’s 3-3 draw against Sheffield United at The Racecourse in the FA Cup fourth round and O’Connell has signed for an undisclosed fee, penning a long-term deal at The Racecourse.

The 27-year-old was a regular under former Addicks boss Ben Garner but sustained an injury at the end of October and made three substitute appearances in January after returning to the fold.

But although he still had a big part to play at The Valley where he signed a three-year contract after leaving Rochdale, O’Connell didn’t hesitate to make the switch to Wrexham when he was told there was interest in him.

“Any move is a big decision,” said the Irish defender.

“I have been keeping up-to-date with what’s going on here and the ambition the club is showing.

“The move came about quite quickly and I am really happy with it.

“I played every game at Charlton up until I picked up an injury in October and was doing quite well.

“I was just told that there was interest and the deal had been agreed.

“It was up to me to make a decision and I jumped at this opportunity.”

O’Connell has dropped two divisions - Charlton are 15th in the third tier - but it is not something that fazes him with Wrexham battling it out for automatic promotion to the Football League.

“It is a club on the up and to be a part of something like this is a big plus for me,” said O’Connell.

“I am really excited to get started, hopefully get into the team and just go from there.

“Promotion is the aim with the manager and the players so hopefully I can help achieve it.”

Wrexham are second in the table, three points behind Notts County with two games in hand, and O’Connell is looking forward to the final three months of the campaign.

“It is an exciting time coming into the business end of the season,” he said.

“The lads have done well to get into the position the club is in.

“We are just looking forward to keep pushing, see where it takes us and hopefully it will be a successful season.”

With Tunnicliffe and Hayden on the sidelines, O’Connell, who has also played for Celtic, Oldham Athletic, Cork City, Walsall and Bury, is expected to go straight into the side when Wrexham continue the title push at Altrincham on Saturday.

But he is relishing competition for places when everyone is fit.

“Injuries are never nice for anyone but it is part of football,” added O’Connell.

“We will have good competition for places here when everyone is back, I am just really excited to push myself and see where I can go.”