Kerley adds to his squad ahead of clash with Harps

FOLLOWING last weekend's encouraging away draw against First Division league leaders Longford Town, Athlone Town will look to build on that result when they take on Finn Harps at Lissywollen this Friday (7.45pm). Athlone supporters can also look forward to seeing some of manager Mike Kerley's new signings when they entertain Peter Hutton's Harps, after the Town boss added further to his squad following the Longford result. Midfielder Shane Dunne has completed his transfer to Athlone following the recent withdrawal from the league of his former club, Monaghan Utd - while another midfielder, 20 year-old Sean Skelly (younger brother of former Athlone favourite Austin) is also expected to sign before the weekend's match, following his release from Longford Town. Sean Skelly played for the now-defunct Sporting Fingal and also Drogheda Utd before joining Longford midway through last season, but featured only a handful of times for Tony Cousins' side, and mutually parted ways with the Flancare Park outfit earlier this week. He actually featured prominently alongside Athlone native and current UCD forward Robbie Benson in the Ireland schools' team that won the Centenary Shield in 2010, when a memorable goal by Benson sealed a 1-0 win over England in Burton to capture the trophy. Skelly's older brother, Austin (now with Longford), became a crowd favourite during his season-and-a half spell with Athlone, netting 11 goals in the 2010 campaign. He also scored a memorable goal in a friendly against English visitors Middlesbrough. Loan deals have also been agreed by Athlone with Bohemians and Sligo Rovers for the acquisitions of Neil Harney and Mark McGoldrick respectively, with Athlone hoping to have both players registered in time for Friday. "Both those deals (for Harney and McGoldrick) have been given the green light, and we hope to have them available against Finn Harps," said assistant manager Padraig Moran. Athlone gave debuts to a trio of recently signed players against Longford (Stephen Last, Eric Molloy and Barry O'Mahony), and all three are expected to be involved again this weekend. O'Mahony actually began the season with Friday's opposition, Finn Harps, while potential loan signing McGoldrick also spent a large chunk of last season on loan at the Donegal club. Athlone will welcome back Brian McCarthy from suspension this weekend, while Mark Sherlock (badly bruised foot) and Sean Guerins (illness) are expected to return to the squad after missing the Longford game. Ross Kenny and Mark Walshe also made appearances (as substitutes) against Longford, after missing several weeks through injury, and came through their returns with no ill-affects. Jason Hughes (hamstring) and Stephen Last (cramp) were forced off in the second half against Longford, but should be fine to face Harps. Niall Scullion (toe injury) and Ian Sweeney (groin) are both struggling to return to the squad though. With fresh faces recently perking-up the squad, and Athlone staying in touch with the promotion-chasing pack, there's plenty of room for optimism at Athlone, according to Padraig Moran. "While the players we brought in don't have a huge amount of experience, I think it's notable that young, hungry players now want to come to Athlone. I think they see the progress we're making, and the chances we give to young players. To be honest, it wasn't our intention to bring six or seven new players into the squad during the transfer window, but unfortunately we were down a few bodies after the mid-season break, for various reasons, and needed to act quick and get players in. In fairness to the manager, he doesn't go out and sign players on a whim, and tends to get the right players for the right positions. Hopefully, we can get the registrations through on time for the latest batch of new signings and have them available for Harps," said Moran. After earning a hard-fought draw against neighbours Longford, Moran said confidence is now high in the Athlone camp. "I think it was a great result for us (against Longford)," he said. "We were down a fair few players, and had to reshuffle lads into different positions, and also had three lads making debuts, so it's encouraging that we can go to Longford, which is a difficult place to go when they're flying high, and look comfortable for large portions of the game. We're going into the Harps game with a good level of confidence, and training has become far more competitive now, and the intensity (of training) has risen. Over the next few weeks, it's important we continue picking up positive results and stay on the coat-tails of the top-three," added Moran.