Luton sign Pompey keeper on loan

Kiely: Surprise loan signing tonight

Irish international Dean Kiely has fallen out of favour at Portsmouth after the summer signing of David James and has featured very few times for Portsmouth this season. Kiely has also had spells at York, Bury and most notably Charlton Athletic. The move is something of a surprise by Mike Newell, even though Luton's goals against record has been terrible recently. Kiely will probably start on Saturday against Southampton ahead of keeper Marlon Beresford. Kiely is 36 years old and 6 foot tall, so he is only a year younger than Marlon. A permanent signing is probably unlikely due to his age. In hindsight, this will either be seen as a masterstroke by Mike Newell or as a desperate effort to shore up the defence gone wrong. The announcement comes only a few days after Newell said that it would be difficult to sign Premiership players on loan.