Kettlewell impressed by Paton potential
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Harry Paton put pen to paper on a deal to join Ross County yesterday, with the 20-year-old looking to make the step up to the Scottish Championship and full-time senior football.
Paton was a standout player in Stenhousemuir’s promotion to League One last season, with the former Fulham academy player having joined Stenny on loan from Hearts.
One of Paton’s new managers Stuart Kettlewell says that even though the central midfielder was playing in the lower leagues, he was impressed by the Canadian’s potential.
“Something that myself and Steven [Ferguson] are big on is people that are progressing in the game, people that are on their way up in the game and showing signs of potential, and Harry certainly fits into that category.
“He’s had a very good season at Stenhousemuir, he’s done very well.
“We’re perfectly aware that was in League Two, but we feel that his qualities will transmit to the Championship and doing really well for this football club.”
Paton is the third central midfield player that Ross County have signed this summer after Iain Vigurs and Jamie Lindsay, with Ross Draper also committing to a new deal at the club.
Kettlewell is delighted with the options that he now has in the middle of the park, but he says that they all possess some similar qualities.
“We feel that in order to be successful and win games of football you’ve got to strike that balance of experience and youth.
“We feel like we’ve been able to do that reasonably well over the summer, we’re happy with the players we’ve got in to this point.
“We’re obviously still looking to chip away at things and see if we can complete our squad as soon as we possibly can.
“Both myself and Steven are delighted to come to an agreement with Harry, and from what he’s shown over the last season and his grounding, the type of character he is – he’s a hungry lad for success and he wants to achieve something in the game – that ticks all the boxes as far as we’re concerned.
“That ticks all the boxes for the players that we’re looking to amass in our squad.”
