Steve Lovell adds forward to his squad.

Gillingham have captured the signing of Preston North End forward Graham Burke on loan until May 4.

The 25-year-old, who has represented the Republic of Ireland national side on two occasions, becomes the club’s second signing of the transfer window following the arrival of winger Billy King on Wednesday.

Burke came through the youth ranks at Aston Villa and made his professional debut for the club in a Capital One Cup tie against Tranmere in August 2012.

A loan stint at Shrewsbury followed before joining Notts County, initially on loan, in March 2015, before joining permanently that summer. In total he scored five times in 65 appearances which alerted the attention of Shamrock Rovers who signed the player in February of 2017. While at the Tallaght Stadium, Burke netted a stunning 18 times in just 14 games.

Preston captured Burke’s signature in the summer of 2018 on a three-year deal and has since featured 15 times, scoring twice.

The forward has made two senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland, scoring against USA at the Aviva Stadium in June of last year.

On getting his man Steve Lovell said: “Naturally Graham has had a lot of interest from other clubs so I’m delighted he has decided to join us here. He has proved he is a goal scorer; he has represented his country and has experience of playing at a higher level.

“This will add competition to our forward areas and we are looking forward to working with him.”

Burke added: “Once I spoke to the manager I decided that Gillingham was the right place for me to get some game time. I want to play; I want to score goals and will be doing everything I can to help the club move up the table.”

Graham has been assigned shirt number 10.