Deadline Day, the most important day on the calendar these days, and, for Stags fans, Nigel Clough didn’t disappoint, both on the final day of the January window, and throughout the month as a whole.
Four new signings have come through the door at the One Call Stadium, and put pen to paper on a contract at the Sky Bet League Two promotion hopefuls, the fourth, attacking midfielder Davis Keillor-Dunn, who joins from Burton Albion.
Combined with the mid-January additions of Alfie Kilgour (24), Callum Johnson (26), and Louis Reed (25), is yet another, exciting addition to the ranks, and could well be the final piece of the promotion jigsaw.
Granted, time will tell on that last point, but promotion is the aim for Clough and the Stags, anything less, although not quite disastrous, will not be taken lightly by those in NG18.
The addition of Keillor-Dunn, a 25-year-old midfielder born in the north-east, debuting in Scotland, and whom made a name for himself during two years at Boundary Park, Oldham, is one that, alongside his fellow newcomers, excites the footballing faithful.
A native of Sunderland, the attacking midfielder had a youth career which took in the north-east’s big three (Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough) as well as spells at Gateshead and Chesterfield, before heading north o’ the border, to Scottish outfit Ross County, where he’d make his senior bow at the start of the 2017-18 season.
It would be at Oldham Athletic however that attention in the exciting midfielder would increase, he going on to score 28 goals, in 108 appearances (all competitions), for the Latics, and, although he was released by the club upon relegation to the National League at the end of last season, Keillor-Dunn was already on the radar of Stags boss, Clough.
The Stags boss told www.mansfieldtown.net of bringing in Keillor-Dunn: “We were very strongly interested in Davis in the summer but he chose to go to Burton in League One because of them playing in a higher division more than anything else.
“We’ve been a fan of his for some time and, like Louis Reed, we eventually managed to get him.”
“There’s no fixed position for Davis. He can play as a striker, or off a striker, or as a midfielder. He’s a player who can create and score goals.
“We’re grateful again to the owners for backing this latest signing. We think it’s been a very good transfer window with the players who we’ve brought in.”
Meanwhile, and whilst thanking his former club, Keillor-Dunn posted on his Twitter (@davisjames10); “Delighted to sign for the Stags. Big thanks to SMi World for getting this done. See you all at the weekend!
“Would also just like to say thank you to Burton Albion FC for my time there! Some lovely people at the club. I really wish you all the best for the rest of the season.”
Granted, incomings come at a cost, and the Stags have seen the departures of Ollie Hawkins and George Lapslie, to Gillingham, and Kellan Gordon to Crawley Gordon, the four acquisitions add a new core to the Stags, and versatility with it.
Keillor-Dunn this season, whilst at Burton Albion, had scored five in nineteen, and has signed the longest of the four contracts, penning a two-and-a-half year deal; of the other trio brought into the club, Reed, who arrived from Swindon Town, scored once in twenty-two, Johnson’s arrival from Ross County has seen him make twenty-one appearances for the Scottish Premier League club, and Kilgour, from Bristol Rovers, someone who’s already opened his Stags account, added to his one in twelve in the south-west.
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @mansfieldtownfc Davis Keillor-Dunn signs from Burton Albion.
