ALDERSHOT Town have responded to the departure of many of last season’s strong squad with a flurry of signings this week, including three in one day.

Shots have lost most of their first-choice defenders – Callum Reynolds and Cheye Alexander joined John Still’s Barnet last week, Will Evans having earlier signed for Chesterfield.

Josh Lelan became Gary Waddock’s third signing of the day on Monday, after deals for former Dagenham midfielder Luke Howell and defender Marvin McCoy from Ebbsfleet.

McCoy is likely to step into Alexander’s shoes at right-back, while Kenyan defender Lelan – recruited from Crawley Town – can play at both right-back and centre-back.

Howell, 31, has played in the Football League for Gillingham, MK Dons and Lincoln City, as well as Dagenham, for whom he has made almost 200 appearances across two spells.

The midfielder was part of the MK Dons sides which won the League Two championship in 2008 and made the League One play-off semi-final a year later.

McCoy, 29, an Antigua and Barbuda international, previously played for Gary Waddock with Wycombe, helping them win promotion to League One in 2010-11.

A member of the Arsenal and Watford academies as a junior, McCoy made his senior debut for Harrow Borough, before spells at Leyton and Wealdstone.

After winning the Stones’ 2010 Player of the Year award, he signed a one-year contract with Wycombe and in his first season as a professional made 25 appearances as Waddock’s side finished third in League Two.

He played 108 games for Wanderers, including 32 in League One, and subsequently made another 54 appearances in two years at League Two York City.

The Walthamstow-born defender was then a regular in the Ebbsfleet side which won the National League South play-off final in 2016-17, going on to make 22 appearances in the National League in 2017-18, including as a substitute in May’s play-off eliminator at the EBB Stadium.

The versatile Lelan, 23, made 33 appearances for Crawley last season, having won the League Two championship with Northampton in 2015-16.

Lelan, who won one international cap for Kenya in 2016, began his career in the Derby County academy and made his senior debut in the Conference Premier during a 2013 loan spell at Gateshead. He also made five appearances for Swindon in League One at the start of the 2014-15 season.

Waddock’s hectic week continued with the signing of midfielder Regan Booty on a season-long loan from Huddersfield.

The 20-year-old, who captains the Terriers’ U23 side, has been part of David Wagner’s first-team squad for 18 months and made his non-competitive first-team debut in a friendly against Liverpool in July 2016.

Having joined Huddersfield aged just eight, the left-footed creative midfielder featured for the club’s U18 side as a 15-year-old.

• Aldershot will host Barnet in their first National League fixture of the season on Saturday, August 4. Barnet have recently signed defenders Callum Reynolds and Cheye Alexander, both Aldershot players last season.