ZAC Ashworth is excited to “take a risk” by leaving his boyhood club West Brom to join Wanderers’ promotion challenge.

The versatile 20-year-old has signed a season-long loan deal with the Whites with a view to a permanent move next summer.

Ashworth had been with the Baggies from the age of 10 and still has two years to run on his contract at the Championship club.

But his desire to play regular football and build on the encouraging few months he spent with Burton last season has led him to accept Wanderers’ offer this summer.

“It could have been a comfortable option to stay there but I’m excited to take a risk and join another massive club and I can’t wait to get started,” he said.

“When I was a little boy I grew up supporting West Brom and I always have. West Brom will always be close to my heart but this is a new chapter for me, I’m excited to be here and I can’t wait to get into the season and help push on.

“I’m still only 20 so I have a lot of improving to do. I’ve got no doubt I can get better and better here, especially under the manager who really impressed me in the time I spoke to him.

“I’ve got a lot of learning to do and improvements to make but I think this is the best place I could be to do that.”

Ashworth turned heads last season when he spent four months on loan at Burton Albion, playing a major role in the Brewers’ push for safety.

He came up against Wanderers in a 1-1 draw at the Pirelli Stadium in April and says his time with Burton has whet his appetite for more.

“I think it was crucial. Every young player has to experience that first loan and I really enjoyed my time there,” he told the club.

“I did well and the team did well. To gain that experience hopefully made me a better player and now I’m excited to try and push on to the other side of the table and, hopefully, be part of a team pushing for promotion.

“I had to learn quickly. It was straight in at the deep end. To pick up as many points as we did was a great achievement and I’m hoping to use that sort of experience and knowledge and that taste of League One to push on and be better.

“I remember thinking Bolton were probably one of the best teams I played against in the second half of the season.

“The fans sold out the away end on a Tuesday night and thinking back to that game makes me even more excited to get started and experience the same but as a Bolton player.

“It’s such an honour to join this club and a club that, in my opinion, is a bigger club than League One, so hopefully I can be part of the squad to push the club and the fans back to where they want to be.”