DAGENHAM & Redbridge have signed Plymouth Argyle's Damien McCrory for a five-figure sum on transfer deadline day.

The 19-year-old player joins from the Championship outfit on a two-and-a-half year deal that will keep him at Victoria Road until June 2012.

McCrory has had plenty of League Two experience already, having played 14 times on loan at Port Vale last season. He made five appearances for the Valiants this season before moving to Grimsby on another loan deal. He played 11 times for the Blundell Park outfit, including a game against the Daggers this term.

The youngster, from Limerick, has worked his way through the Centre of Excellence at Plymouth before catching the eye of John Still.

The Daggers boss said of his new acquisition: “I've seen quite a bit of Damien during his loan spells at Port Vale and Grimsby Town," he told the club's website.

“He's a young ambitious player which fits into our normal criteria and I'm pleased for him to be bringing his drive and ambition to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Stadium.

“We identified a number of players to play left back that we were interested in and Damien was the first choice.

“Since Scott (Griffiths) left we've brought in loan players and all those players did their best for Dagenham & Redbridge but we always wanted to bring in our own player.

“If you look at our back four at the moment, we have Damien, Abu (Ogogo) and Scott (Doe) who are all very young but we also have the experience of Mark Arber too.”