Ayr United have completed their signing of former Stranraer captain Steven Bell on an 18-month deal.

The 32-year-old is set to go straight into the team to play Arbroath at Somerset Park on Saturday.

A central defender or midfielder, Bell is likely to take up position in the engine room at first with Ross Docherty, Andy Geggan and Robbie Crawford all on the injured list.

Bell began his career at Dundee United and also played at Queen of the South, Stirling and Dunfermline before joining Stranraer four years ago and becoming a Stair Park mainstay.

Manager Ian McCall said: "Steven has been fantastic for Stranraer, he has played well over 150 games for them since joining in October 2013.

"He was the Stranraer captain and you can never have enough captains in your team. He has great experience at this level and the league above and can play in a number of positions for us which is very important.

"We have probably been putting pressure on the players with injuries to get back as quickly as possibly and this gives them a chance to make sure they are right.

"This signing will probably mean that we will need to work things around and one or two will be going out."