Westwood is a former Manchester United trainee

Kettering Town have confirmed the signing of Wrexham defender Ashley Westwood on a two-year deal.

Wrexham boss Dean Saunders had suggested Westwood was keen to move in order to be closer to his family.

The 33-year-old, who played 35 games for Northampton between 2003 and 2006, rejected a new contract from Saunders.

He told the Kettering website: "Wrexham were great to me and even though they offered me a deal, I just wanted to play closer to home."

Poppies boss Lee Harper played with Westwood while the pair were at Northampton.

"When Lee gave me a ring, I could see he was building a good team here at Kettering and I wanted to be a part of it," Westwood added.

It could be that there's another system we're thinking about playing which would incorporate all three Kettering manager Lee Harper on his centre-back options

He will face a battle for a central defensive place against Ian Roper and John Dempster, who have both penned new deals, and new signing Luke Graham.

"It could be that there's another system we're thinking about playing which would incorporate all three," said Harper.

"Hopefully we'll have the best defensive line-up in the division. We're just searching for two big strikers to get us a lot of goals, then we won't be far off."

Westwood played 65 games for Wrexham, finding the net on three occasions.

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