John McDonnell won’t wait until January to bolster his Newry City squad.

Indeed the border club’s boss is hoping to have a new face on-board in time to face Coleraine tomorrow afternoon.

Former Drogheda United and Shamrock Rovers man Danny O’Connor — a versatile defender who can also operate in midfield — has been training with Newry and will make his bow as soon as international clearance comes through.

“We’re hoping to have Danny in for the weekend and if not then he’ll definitely be in next weekend,” said McDonnell.

“He was out of contract when the transfer window closed, so he can come in and play straight away rather than having to wait until January, which is a bonus for us.

“He can play in a few different positions as well which will also be good for us.”

Another recent arrival in the Newry first-team is shining, despite a poor run of form, which sees McDonnell still looking for his first league win.

Teenage striker Ruairi Devlin went on trial to Norwich City a few weeks ago and has been impressing since his debut against Linfield last month.

Newry did get a win in Tuesday’s Mid-Ulster Cup tie against Hanover of Portadown and McDonnell is now hoping to see a run of form sparked off.

“It’ll be difficult against Coleraine given the quality they have in attack, but we’ve got a little bit of confidence even though Hanover are well below the standard of this league,” he said.