Kealan Dillon becomes third player in as many days to swap Drogheda United for Athlone Town

Athlone Town manager Terry Butler has continued his impressive off-season transfer dealings by luring Kealan Dillon back after a four-year spell away from the midlanders.

Dillon, once of Hull City and St Mirren, returns to Athlone following spells at Bohemians, Longford Town and Drogheda United since his previous stint at Lissywoolen during the 2014 campaign.

Dillon made his Athlone debut against Sligo Rovers in 2014, a game which ended in a 2-1 defeat for the then-Mick Cooke-managed side.

Dillon soon followed Keith Long to Bohemians before spending two years at Longford Town and then joined forces with rookie manager Tim Clancy at Drogheda United.

While at United Park, Dillon struggled to nail down his place in the starting team with only 11 appearances to his name at the Boyneside venue.

Dillon has now decided to make the move to the First Division’s basement-battlers of the past two years in the search of regular first-team football.

The 24-year-old is the third player to make the move from Drogheda to the Westmeath outfit as defender Lloyd Buckley and striker Gareth McCaffrey have also joined in recent days.