CHIPPENHAM Town boss Mark Collier has beefed up his squad this week with the capture of an international sprinter and a former England captain.

The Bluebirds have signed striker Omar Simpson, a former Yeovil Town trainee who is currently within the top 20 of the UK 400m rankings, and defender Conor McCormack, who captained the England Schoolboys U18 side in the 2012-2013 Centenary Shield.

Track star Simpson, 24, has previously made cameo appearances for Bath City and Corsham Town whilst 19-year-old McCormack joins Chippenham after a spell at Throttur Reykjavik in Iceland.

“They both came on trial with us and have done well in training and the in-house games we’ve had, so we’ve decided to sign them up,” said Bluebirds boss Collier.

“Omar had six years at Yeovil and I did ask him if his sprinting would infringe on us as the year goes on but he told me that his training was done for the season and he was free to do whatever he wants.

“He’s a very good 200m and 400m runner and he’s already had his Great Britain vest, so as you can imagine, he’s had no trouble catching the other lads.

“Conor captained the England Schoolboys and is has done very well so far. He can play at centre-half and right-back and he had trials at Charlton Athletic at the end of last season.

“We’ve got a good-sized squad together now and we won’t be looking at adding anyone else, unless they’re better than what we’ve got.

Chippenham travel to Hellenic League Shrivenham, who are managed by Collier’s son Sam, for their first pre-season friendly of the summer next Tuesday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Bluebirds manager added: “We’ve had some good training sessions already and the fitness levels are good, so we’re just looking forward to getting on the pitch.

“The friendly was organised over Sunday lunch and I think Shrivenham will be competitive because they've got a good squad together.”

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