DUNDALK FC have announced that Stephen McDonnell has signed a new contract to keep him at the club for the 2012 season.

The 19-year-old will spend a third season at the club, having signed in March 2010, with the former Quay Celtic and Celtic central midfielder making 33 appearances over the past two years, scoring one goal along the way.

McDonnell’s 2011 campaign was disrupted by a knee injury which kept him out for 23 straight games between May and September, but he returned with six games remaining to bring his tally for the season to 20 appearances.

The 2010 Republic of Ireland U17 Player of the Year was capped at U17, U18 and U19 level by Seán McCaffrey, and, having spoken fondly of his old boss last week, McDonnell is looking forward to rejoining forces with the 52-year-old.

“I’m over the moon to get it done and dusted,” McDonnell told dundalkfc.com.

“I wasn’t too sure what was happening with regards to the manager – it was left quite late. I had one or two other offers on the table but I’m glad that I held out because the right man got the job. That kind of made me sign, to be honest.

“I think we’re going to have a good year.”

McDonnell suffered a knee injury in Galway in May but it was a tear to his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his opposite knee against Shamrock Rovers in the Setanta Sports Cup final eight days later that knocked him out for four months.

“It was very hard to take after getting such a good run in the team,” Stephen said, after he had enjoyed his longest run in the team with ten straight starts.

“To miss out on you may as well say the whole season with a bad injury was devastating, because the year before I was out for the first six months with a heart problem.

“I said the same last year but – touch wood – hopefully I can stay injury free and play every game this season.

“I felt I was finally making my mark in the team last year. Ian Foster was starting to get what he wanted out of me. I felt I was improving with every game. It was just unfortunate that the injury came when it did.

“The knee has been fine all through the off-season. I was in the PFAI training camp and there has been no reoccurrence of the injury. The knee actually feels a lot stronger than it ever was.

“I’m just itching to get started again.”

McDonnell was part of the PFAI training camp from when it started on 14 November and was a member of the squad that played in Norway last month.

“I was in with the PFAI from start to finish and played all the games,” Sam explained, “so I have some sort of fitness going into pre-season. I’m looking to get a good pre-season under my belt.

“We finished second in a four-team tournament; we got beaten on penalties in the final. It was a good workout overall.”

McDonnell’s admiration for McCaffrey is clear from talking to him, and he is relishing the opportunity to work with the Monaghan manager on an almost daily basis.

“I can’t wait to get working under him again,” Stephen said.

“He always seems to get the best out of me. Maybe, he’s just one of those managers that everybody wants to play for. When he put the offer on the table, I don’t think there was any thinking about it – it was a yes straight away.

“It was only every four or five months with the Irish team that we would meet up for a friendly or a tournament, but you could see in 7-10 days what information Seán could deliver, so to work with him all-year round is going to be great, for everyone.”