DORCHESTER Town manager Craig Laird is looking to make good use of new signing Chris Weale’s experience as the former Leicester City goalkeeper plays his first season for the Magpies.

Weale, 35, played 51 games for the Foxes as they reached the 2009/10 Championship play-off semi-finals and won Shrewsbury Town’s player of the year award in 2013.

Laird revealed to Echosport he is hoping to tap into Weale’s wisdom as the season progresses.

He said: “It’s a good signing for the club. He’s got a great football background and CV and he’ll hopefully bring that little bit of experience we need.

“We can all draw on his experience, it can only make us all better. Hopefully he’ll be part of a successful team going forward. Goalkeeper is a very important position and we’ve gone and got ourselves a good one.”

Laird believes Weale, who spent a large proportion of his career at Yeovil Town, fits perfectly into the squad and the “local feel” he is trying to build.

“It ticks the boxes for him with his family and lifestyle. We’re trying to bring in a local feel. We don’t want players travelling two hours to get to matches and we can train more as a squad,” he said.

Weale is cited by boss Laird as a key figure in difficult matches and hopes he can deliver an “edge” to his side in such circumstances.

“We can all learn from him. When the games are tough he’ll give us that little bit of an edge and it will be good for the younger players. But the bottom line is that he’s a good goalkeeper.”