LITHUANIA INTERNATIONAL Karolis Chvedukas has linked up with Waterford after leaving reigning Premier Division champions Dundalk.
The 27-year-old, who has featured 19 times for his country, struggled to establish himself as a Dundalk regular having joined ahead of the 2018 season, with an ankle injury suffered in the second half of last season hindering his progress.
Before beginning his spell in the League of Ireland, the midfielder spent most of his career at Lithuanian outfit Sūduva Marijampolė, as well as having brief stints at Croatian club RNK Split and Polish side Chojniczanka Chojnice.
“I’m looking forward to joining the club,” Karolis said upon signing. “I had a good chat with Alan [Reynolds] and made the decision to come to Waterford.
I’ve been working hard on my recovery from the operation with the help of Danny [Miller] at Dundalk and I can’t thank him enough.
“It’s going well, I’m back on the pitch and I can’t wait to get playing again. That’s the most important thing at the moment to work on my recovery and my fitness and help the team.
“I know a bit about the club like two years ago the club won the First Division and now this season there’s European football. I played against them last season and I liked the style and the way they try to play. I think it will suit me and how I like to play football too, and I can’t wait to get started.”
“We’re really happy to bring Karolis to the club,” Waterford boss Reynolds added. “He’s well on his way to full fitness with the great work he’s been doing with the Dundalk medical team. He’s a strong midfielder who’ll offer us plenty.
We’re trying to strengthen the squad and Karolis is part of that. He’s a great reader of the game and likes to keep the ball moving so will give us good options going forward. He’s got lots of experience from playing in Europe too so that will stand to us as a group of players.
“I want to thank Dundalk for their co-operation in getting this deal sorted, too. We’re still working hard to add to the squad, but we need to make sure we’re getting the right players; we won’t rest until we have the players we want.”
Following a tough Six Nations opening defeat to England, Joe Schmidt will look to regroup against a dangerous Scotland side. This week, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey are joined by Bernard Jackman to assess the damage of last weekend and look ahead to the clash in Murrayfield:
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