Following his appearance in Leyton Orient's recent pre-season fixture against Harlow, we take a look at the trialist, Luke Rooney, career so far.
Edinburgh's Comments
After Leyton Orient's impressive opener, manager Justin Edinburgh revealed that the trialist who featured in the second half was, in fact, Luke Rooney, who most recently featured for Billericay Town.
Following the fixture, Edinburgh had this to say when speaking to the press: "The trialist was Luke Rooney. We are looking at one or two. We would probably like to strengthen more, but we’ll look at that as we go along."
Rooney's Career
The footballer's career began in 2009 as he graduated Gillingham's academy and went onto make over 50 appearances for the club. His stint at the Kent-based side also included loan spells at Lewes and Eastbourne Borough.
Rooney later joined Swindon for an undisclosed fee in 2012. However, although he made 31 appearances for The Robins, he ultimately failed to impress as Rooney went on to feature for Burton Albion, Rotherham United and Crawley Town on loan before departing for Maidstone in 2014.
He later joined Luton Town for the 2014/15 season where The Hatters won promotion to the Football League and Rooney featured 17 times. However, he spent the following season with Ebbsfleet United and the year after at Crawley Town.
The forward then made the leap over the Atlantic to join Phoenix Rising in 2016, playing alongside the likes of Didier Drogba and Shaun Wright-Phillips. However, Rooney now finds himself on British shores with his most recent stint being at Billericay Town.
Rooney's performance against Harlow
Rooney took to the pitch during the second half and was originally tasked with leading the front line as an out-and-out striker. The former Phoenix Rising forward appeared to struggle but seemed to find his feet as the game progressed.
Furthermore, it appears that Edinburgh is keen to see how Rooney will perform over the coming pre-season fixtures. However, will Rooney join on a permanent basis? That remains to be seen.