Striker Darius Osei has moved more than 250 miles to kickstart his career at Maidstone.

The 22-year-old has signed until the end of the season after his Oldham contract was cancelled.

Osei played 22 times for the Latics in League 1 last season after joining from Stalybridge Celtic but made only four appearances this term, scoring in their defeat at Blackpool.

Chances were limited after Richie Wellens replaced John Sheridan as manager and Osei is so keen to play football he’s moved to the other end of the country.

He said: “I was at Oldham and obviously I wasn’t getting games there.

“My agent contacted me saying Maidstone were interested and to come down and see how it is.

“I’m very pleased with the move and hopefully I can get some games and score some goals.

“It’s a long way to come but I’m all about playing games.

“I just want to play games, I want to feel good and hopefully I can do well.

“As a striker it’s all about goals.

“I’ve got pace and power so hopefully I’ll get some goals.”

Oldham, a former Premier League club, looked the ideal move for Osei to launch his Football League career after impressing at Stalybridge.

He scored twice in the Checkatrade Trophy in his first season but the goals dried up.

He’s confident he has the ability to play in the league and knows a good spell at Maidstone will push his claims to move back up.

Osei said: “I was a young lad and I was doing well so when I heard Oldham were interested in me, I was like ‘why not take the chance and see where it takes me?’

“I scored a couple of goals but, as a striker, you want more goals.

“We weren’t doing well in the second season and the manager got the sack.

“I trained my hardest but we were losing games and we needed more experienced players, but that’s how it goes.

“I feel like I wasn’t getting any games so there’s no point being there, so I moved here and hopefully it goes well for me.

“I hadn’t heard much about Maidstone but when I came down I thought ‘why not?’