Sligo Rovers can today confirm the signing of midfielder Adam McDonnell.

McDonnell began his career at Shelbourne before moving to Ipswich Town under Mick McCarthy.

Two successful spells at Aldershot Town saw McDonnell play some of the best football of his career before a switch to Boreham Wood for the last two campaigns.

The 24-year-old officially joined the club last weekend and has completed Covid-19 protocols so he trained with the first-team squad this morning.

He is already eligible to play in the league and European action.

Speaking to www.sligorovers.com, McDonnell said: “It’s brilliant to get it over the line. In the last few weeks my agent and the club were in conversation and for me it was a no-brainer to sign for Sligo Rovers.  

“I know what Liam Buckley teams are like, I remember it from playing against St Patrick’s Athletic at the start of my career and I didn’t forget it. I was up against Greg Bolger that day actually and the style of football will be a great fit for me.

“I’m a ball-playing midfielder who can play six or 10. I think defending matters when it comes to midfield so if I play six I like to get on the ball and protect the defence, and if playing further up the pitch create chances or score goals.

“I absolutely loved my time in England. The last year or so was not as enjoyable with lockdown and it was right time to come back to Ireland.

“I’m in Sligo so I’ll be able to travel home to Dublin at times and see my family which I wasn’t able to do in England. I know Robbie McCourt and Danny Kane so I spoke to them about the club and when you just hear good things, it made me want to come here.  I can see the positive mindset here and a winning mentality and it’s fantastic to be part of that. Even after one session I can see that positivity.

“There’s so much to play for in terms of the league and obviously there’s Europe on Thursday. I trained today, I’ve been ticking over since I left England and while I may need match sharpness, I want to play as soon as I can.”

Liam Buckley said: “We’re very pleased to bring Adam in.

“I’ve known of Adam since he was a young kid starting out at Shels with a lot of potential, he’s gone over to England and done very well for the last six or seven years.

“He brings experience and he’ll be a help to us over the season. We are only at the midway point so between the league, the Cup and the rest of the European season, there’s a lot of football to be played.

“Adam can play in a couple of midfield roles, he’s got a lot of quality and he’ll get a chance here.

“We’re working off a very good squad here but a tight squad on numbers so we will need everyone.

“Every player we bring in will get the opportunity and Adam comes into the mix now. With this move being in the offing for a while, Adam has kept fit and from training today he looked good. We’ll see how things go for when he makes a debut but it’s another good addition to us.”

Buckley added: “We’re still in the mix with the window still open. As I said we don’t have the biggest of squads so if something does materialise we will assess it as we continue to do on an ongoing basis.”