Defender Sam Lavelle joined the club on a two-year deal in the summer of 2023.

Blackpool-born Lavelle began his career at Blackburn Rovers, where he spent 12 years before moving to Bolton Wanderers ahead of the 2016/17 season.

The Scotland youth international moved to Morecambe in the summer of 2017 and made 165 appearances across four seasons with the Shrimps. He was captain when the club won promotion to the third tier for the first time in their history in May 2021.

That success earned him a move to Charlton, where he scored three times in 41 appearances. He was due to spend the second half of the 2022/23 campaign on loan with Burton, but a shoulder injury brought a premature end to that spell.