Arsenal hand trial to non-League goalkeeper

Arsenal have handed a trial to non-League goalkeeper Dan Lincoln.

The 21-year-old featured for a youthful Arsenal XI against Hitchin Town in a friendly on Thursday night.

Lincoln is currently with Ryman Premier Division side Bognor Regis, but came through the ranks with Reading.

He was named in three matchday squads by the Royals, as an unused substitute in games at Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Watford in 2014-15, while also having loan spells at Farnborough and Nuneaton.

Lincoln was released by Reading in the summer of 2015 and spent five months at Hayes & Yeading United, before joining Basingstoke in January this year.

He made the move to Bognor at the start of the season, and also played one game for National League side Braintree on an emergency loan last month.

In Thursday’s friendly, played in front of 1,160 fans and organised to celebrate the official opening of Hitchin’s new floodlights, England Under-17 international Kaylen Hinds gave the Gunners the lead midway through the second half.

However, Hitchin – of the Southern League Premier Division – levelled late on through Callum Riley.