by Steve Tervet

Harry Crawford has thanked Dartford for respecting his wishes and helping his return to professional football.

The 21-year-old striker, pictured, signed a three-year deal at Barnet last week, six months after arriving at Princes Park.

His goals fired the Darts up the Blue Square Bet Premier table but grabbed the attention of the League 2 club, managed by Dutch legend Edgar Davids.

Crawford, unable to secure full-time football last summer, impressed on trial but told the club he did not want to sign a contract.

That didn’t put off manager Tony Burman and the former Southend player featured in 30 games and scored 15 goals.

He said: "I can’t speak any negative words about Dartford. I stated to them that I didn’t want to sign a contract, that I wanted to go back into full-time football.

"I’ve got to thank Tony, especially, for standing by me and respecting my decision. The gaffer has been class to me, the club has shown me full support. I can’t thank them enough."

Crawford went into the Barnet squad at Burton on Saturday and came off the bench 18 minutes from time in the Bees’ 1-0 defeat.