AFC Telford complete signing of Chris Lever

The 26-year-old stopper, who left Southport last week, has signed a one-year deal.

His arrival follows hot on the heels of ex-Rochdale centre-half and Republic of Ireland under-19 international Neill Byrne, whose signing was completed yesterday afternoon.

Club bosses are also confident of adding two new midfielders in the next week or so.

Assistant boss Dominic Morley was delighted with the capture of Byrne, who he described as having great potential.

And he believes Lever will add yet further quality to their back line.

Morley said: "Chris has played in the Conference and he has won the Conference North.

"He gives you great cover anywhere across the back four, he also chips in with a few goals and he is a great penalty taker."

Lever, who scored seven goals in 31 appearances last season in the Blue Square Bet Premier, was released by Southport last weekend.

Work commitments meant he was unable to train with the Sandgrounders on Monday mornings.

Telford have two evening training sessions a week, meaning Lever will not face the same difficulty at his new club.

Lever, who made 95 appearances for the Haig Avenue outfit after joining in January 2009, is the 11th new signing since Morley and manager Liam Watson took the reins at Telford at the start of last month.

But, despite the influx of new players, chairman Lee Carter warned there was more work to be done ahead of the new season.

Carter said: "Liam and Dom have been working really, really hard to get us to this stage, but there is still a fair bit of work to do.

"We said from the off we had little time to waste and I think the way in which we have done our business so far demonstrates that.

"We really need to hit the ground running from the beginning of July and we are not going to hang around."