CHERRIES loanee Josh O’Hanlon hopes drawing on past experience will help get his temporary stint at Poole Town off to a flying start.

The 18-year-old development squad striker is set to debut for Dolphins in Saturday’s Southern League Premier Division curtain raiser at Banbury United (3pm) after signing a month-long loan deal last week.

Prior to joining Cherries in January, O’Hanlon netted seven goals in 20 appearances for Longford Town in League of Ireland Division One, regularly playing in front of similar-sized crowds to those attracted by Poole.

And with that crucial experience under his belt, the stocky frontman believes he is well-equipped to cope with the rigours of England’s non-league scene.

O’Hanlon told the Daily Echo: “Before I came here, I was playing a similar level back home and benefited from a lot from that.

“For a big game, we got up to 1,000 fans which was a lot more than when I played schoolboys’ football. I hear they get similar crowds at Poole so it will be good to play in front of a few people again and get back to performing with the pressure of a crowd.

“At Bournemouth, everything is a bit more technical. The other lads have been in academies since they were 10 or 11 so it has been difficult to adjust.

“It’s all a lot sharper but I’m learning every day, I get a lot from the training sessions and feel like I am fitting in quite well.

“First of all I’m just looking for minutes on the pitch. Playing senior football will help me physically and hopefully I can help Poole with a couple of goals as well.”

Meanwhile, Dolphins have reached an agreement with Eastbourne Borough over the signing of defender Lewis Tallack.

The Sussex club are entitled to compensation as the ex-Portsmouth youngster is under 24 and was contracted to Borough last season.

Poole will pay what boss Tom Killick describes as a “nominal fee” but the deal is unlikely to go through before the trip to Oxfordshire, while the unavailable Keith Emmerson also misses out.

Killick says he is also in “advanced talks” with former Cherries prospect Lewis Lindsay.

Dolphins: (from) Hutchings, Jermyn, Walker, Dibba, Whisken, Martin, Devlin, Pettefer, Brooks, Burbidge, Preston, Davis, Byerley, O’Hanlon, Roberts, Manley.