DUNDALK have appointed former Drogheda United boss Darius Kierans as the club's new assistant manager.

Kierans, 31, has assisted Lilywhites boss Ian Foster with pre-season training for the past week.

“I’m delighted to come on board with Ian,” Darius told dundalkfc.com.

“Ian had been on to me a while. He was the first person to actually ring me when I was let go by Drogheda United, so we kept in touch. I’m just delighted to get things finalised and join a big club like Dundalk. It’s over the last few months that I have gotten to know Ian.

" I got to know Ian through his former assistant Wayne Hatswell and coach Martin Connolly. We were doing a lot of work in Oriel Park and in Drogheda together. We got on well from the get-go. For me, Ian’s teams play football. He gets the ball down and plays; his philosophy is right. I had a couple of options but it was a no-brainer coming here.

“I think you only have to look around Dundalk, with the Youth Development Centre and Ian signing the three young lads – Johnny (Breen), Nathan (Murphy) and Mark (Griffin) – that have come through. You have Stephen McDonnell and Paul Murphy who are both local as well. There is an abundance of talent in Dundalk. There always has been.

"The Dundalk Schoolboys’ League is a big league. All in all, the club has massive potential and it’s developing well and it’s progressing well, so I really am looking forward to the challenge, both with the first team and giving Martin a hand with the youth end of things and the development of players from the youth setup through to the first team.”

Kierans, after a long spell with the youth setup at Hunky Dorys Park, was handed the first-team manager’s role last May in difficult circumstances as the Boynesiders struggled at the bottom of the Airtricity League Premier Division, before leaving the position in September.

“I had been at Drogheda for seven years. We had a lot of success with the youths up there. I came through to manage the first team, and the players, to be fair, gave it everything while we were there. We got some good results," he said.

"It became difficult in July when we had to let seven players go or the club wouldn’t have seen out the end of August. If you take seven players out of any team you are going to struggle. But in saying that, it kept the club alive and they’re still fighting for survival, and hopefully do they survive.”

Meanwhile, the Malone Cup match between Drogheda United and Dundalk, scheduled to go ahead at United Park this Friday January 28, has been postponed. A new date has yet to be agreed.