High-profile attacking additions boost Latics

WELCOME ABOARD . . . Athletic's exciting new signing Ryan Flynn has signed a two-year deal at SportsDirect.com Park

ATHLETIC'S recruitment drive has taken on extra impetus with the high-profile arrival of Billy Mckay and Ryan Flynn.

Mckay, a £200,000-rated striker who has nine caps for Northern Ireland, comes in on a season-long loan from Wigan. The 27-year-old scored 13 goals in 35 appearances for Dundee United on loan last term and was prolific in an earlier stint at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Attack-minded Flynn also completed a move to Athletic yesterday, on a permanent two-year deal, to end a long association with Sheffield United that took in three play-off campaigns, one FA Cup semi-final appearance and a League Cup semi-final.

The Edinburgh-born ex-Liverpool player is the highest-profile acquisition yet for manager Stephen Robinson, who has also tied up a deal for midfield man Marc Klok.

The Dutch star (23), who had a short spell at Ross County, has recently been in action for Bulgarian outfit Cherno More.

The three new men could all feature in Saturday's opening pre-season friendly against Huddersfield Town, as Robinson works on bringing further new signings.

Connor Ripley, Josh Law, Lee Erwin, Luke Woodland, Jamie Reckord and Chris Kettings are the other new men in so far.

SCRATCH

Robinson is not expecting a team assembled from scratch to find their feet immediately, but hopes that fans will enjoy glimpses of the recent arrivals.

"We want to get fitness out of the game," he said. "There are a couple of little triggers we will look at in the game as well.

"We will look at a couple of trialists and see where we go with them, too. We want to get a crowd in the door to see what we are trying to do and give encouragement for the new players."

Reports from Peterborough suggest that Athletic are on the trail of midfield duo Jack Payne and Harry Beautyman, while Athletic's current Trust Oldham player of the season, Timothee Dieng, has signed for Bradford City on a two-year deal after impressing while on trial.

ADMISSION for the Huddersfield Town game on Saturday at SportsDirect.com Park (3pm) has been set at £10 adults, £5 concessions and £2 under-12s.

No tickets are available in advance and the Rochdale Road Stand will be closed for the game.

Car parking is severely restricted and available on a first-come, first-served basis at £5.