Stirling Albion bring in new striker to replace outgoing fans' favourite
dailyrecord.co.ukStirling Albion boss Darren Young has moved quickly to replace fans’ favourite Dylan Bikey after the striker left the club to return home to France this week.Akeel Francis has become Young’s second signing of the transfer window following the arrival last week of on-loan Aberdeen defender Mason Hancock.The 22-year-old spent last season with Falkirk before moving to Bradford Park Avenue in the summer.
A youth player with Rotherham, he has also played for Accrington Stanley and Farsley Celtic and returns north following a spell with Warrington Rylands in the Northern Premier League.Francis made 17 appearances for the Bairns in League One last season, 13 of them as a substitute, and scored twice during his time there.
He could make his debut in their match against Stranraer at Stair Park as the Binos look to bounce back from last week’s 3-0 defeat to leaders Kelty Hearts at Forthbank.Francis’ arrival comes as fans’ favourite Bikey returns to France after making 22 appearances including 10 from the bench and scoring twice this season.The 26-year-old made an incredible impact in his first spell with the club in 2016/17, scoring nine goals in nine appearances and causing defences all sorts of problems with his explosive pace.Those eye-catching displays earned him a move to Hearts and he played in Cyprus and France before returning to Forthbank.
Injury saw Bikey miss most of last season and he was in and out of the starting line-up in the first half of the current campaign.In a statement published on the club website, he said to supporters: “I made the decision and asked the club to terminate my contract to return to France near my family.“After two and a half years since returning to Scotland at Stirling, it was starting to be
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