Cobblers boss Boothroyd delighted as he lands striker O’Donovan

And manager Aidy Boothroyd is delighted to have again landed a player he also signed from Sunderland when he was manager at the Sky Blues in June, 2010.

“Roy is a striker who can also play in both wide areas,” said Boothroyd.

“He has played a number of games in the Premier League and was someone I tracked very closely when I was at Colchester.

“I then took him to Coventry when I went there. He is fit, athletic, mobile and he has an eye for goal.

“He will give us a different kind of threat to the other players we have at the club.

“I have worked with him before and he is a good character.

“I know what we are getting with Roy and I am very pleased we have been able to bring him in.”

The 27-year-old O’Donovan, who is a former Coventry trainee, established himself in the League of Ireland with Cork City, where his honours included a league title, golden boot and a nomination for Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) Player of the Year.

He scored 31 goals in 74 league appearances for Cork, and that form caught the eye of Roy Keane, who took him to Sunderland in 2006.

He made 17 appearances for the Black Cats before going out on a series of loan spells.

His purple patch was a spell at Hartlepool where he scored nine goals in 15 appearances at the end of 2008/09, but his record elsewhere is less prolific, with a total of 14 career goals from more than 100 appearances in England and Scotland for Dundee United, Hibernian, Southend and Blackpool,

O’Donovan played 24 times in his time with the Sky Blues, but scored only one goal.

In total, O’Donovan has scored 14 times in 58 senior starts and 45 substitute appearances in the English leagues and Scottish Premier League.