FORMER Newport County AFC striker Aaron O’Connor says he wants to replicate the Exiles’ success story after signing up for ambitious Conference club Forest Green Rovers.

O’Connor says it was Forest Green’s ambition, desire and hunger to succeed that convinced him to move to the Gloucestershire outfit.

The 31-year-old put pen to paper on a one-year contract at the New Lawn last week after being released by County in May.

O’Connor, who was top scorer when he helped the Exiles to promotion to League Two in 2013, was also the club’s leading marksman last season with 12 goals.

And he’s targeting another promotion with Forest Green in 2015/16 alongside former County teammates David Pipe and Darren Jones.

“It’s a hell of a ride that they’ve been on and it’s been nice to be a part of it,” he said of his time at Rodney Parade.

“I don’t think anyone associated with the club could’ve anticipated or even expected anywhere near the highs that the club has had in the last few years.”

Now he wants more of the same at Forest Green as they aim to complete their journey to the Football League.

“Every person I’ve spoken to associated with the club, whether it be a player or the manager, they share the same hunger and desire that I’ve got,” O’Connor told the official Rovers website.

“It doesn’t matter what league the team is in that I was going to join. It could have been League Two or it could have been this league, I wanted to sign for someone where they shared the same ambitions and that’s the feeling I get from this club. I’m hoping we can put everything into place and get promotion.”

O’Connor says he has the same feeling about the current Rovers squad as he did about the Exiles in 2012/13.

“The first thing [Justin Edinburgh] said to me back then [at Newport] was that he was going to assemble a squad that can get out of this league and I bought into it,” he said.

“Ady [Pennock] has filled me with the same confidence. He has got the same kind of ambitions. He wants to get out of this league and has told me about everything that has been put in place to give this club the best possible chance along with the chairman and himself.

“I’m delighted to be here and I’m hoping we can get over the final little hurdle the club just missed out on in the season just gone.”

O’Connor, who has also played for Grays Athletic, Mansfield Town, Rushden & Diamonds and Luton Town in the Conference, added: “I always find it hard playing against Forest Green.

“I think I’ve only beaten them once so that’s definitely something that stays in your mind.

“When you always play against a team you naturally think of what happened last time you played them, or when you’ve played them in the past. You’ve always got teams you can score against and some you can never beat.

“This was one of those places. If I can be part of that team that is tough and hard to beat then we won’t be that far off.

“There’s not much difference between this league and the league above. It’s been proven that teams that get promoted do well. It’s rare they come straight back down.”