Stephen O’Donnell says that new Dundalk signing Darren Brownlie will add physicality and a bit of a ‘hard-nosed edge’ to the Lilywhites backline.

The 29-year-old centre-back became the club’s first new signing of the summer transfer window on Thursday, arriving on the back of an excellent campaign with Scottish Championship outfit Partick Thistle.

“We’re delighted to get Darren over the line,” said O’Donnell. “He’s experienced, he’s got a bit of a hard-nosed edge and he’s definitely got a physical presence.

“He had a really good back end of the season in Scotland with Partick Thistle, who probably should have gone up in playoffs to get to the SPL. He was very good in those games in particular.”

Brownlie, who played alongside former Dundalk attacker Cammie Smith at Partick Thistle, paid a flying visit to Dundalk on Wednesday evening before returning home on Thursday.

He will remain in Scotland at the weekend before flying out to Gibraltar to meet his new teammates ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League tie with FCB Magpies next week.

“Darren is going to meet up with us in Gibraltar on Tuesday and we’re really looking forward to welcoming him into the group,” said O’Donnell.

“He’s had about a month with no game so we’ll need a little bit of time to get him up to speed but it’s good that he’s had a little break as well after a long season in Scotland that went deep into the playoffs.”

Brownlie arrives as a free agent after his contract at Partick Thistle expired and O’Donnell said he was happy to have secured the Bellshill native’s signature on a permanent basis.

“Yeah, it’s a permanent move, which is good,” said the Lilywhites head coach. “We obviously had vacancies with Rayhaan Tulloch and Wasiri Williams leaving so it’s good to get one in the door.”