ST MIRREN HAVE announced the signing of Irish defender Sean McLoughlin on loan from English Championship side Hull City.

The 22-year-old, who only joined Hull from Cork City last week, will stay with the Scottish Premiership club until January.

St Mirren will begin their league campaign tomorrow with a trip to Easter Road to play Hibernian, for whom former Dundalk star Daryl Horgan is likely to feature. 

“It came about a couple of days ago and I’m really excited to get up here,” McLoughlin told St Mirren’s official website. “I’ve still got a lot to learn but I’m looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to bettering myself and helping the team.

“I know the Scottish league is a tough, challenging league. There’s some massive teams, some massive games and a huge fanbase up here so it’s definitely a great place to be and I’m really looking forward to it.” 

A left-sided centre-back, McLoughlin became a regular fixture in the Cork City team early in 2018 and ended that season by being included in the PFAI Team of the Year.

Despite being the subject of substantial interest from the UK, the Cobh native postponed his cross-channel move until he completed a degree course at University College Cork.

The former Republic of Ireland U21 international, who penned a three-year deal at Hull City, made over 60 appearances for Cork City during his time at Turner’s Cross.

St Mirren’s manager, former Ireland senior international Jim Goodwin, said of McLoughlin: “We watched a lot of footage of him and he’s tipped for big things so we are delighted to have him in the squad.”