Tweak to Ross County transfer strategy can help Staggies hit the ground running, believes manager Don Cowie after first pre-season friendly
Don Cowie is hoping that a tweak to Ross County’s transfer strategy will help them hit the ground running.
The Staggies have already been active in the transfer market, bringing in Declan Gallagher, Gary Mackay-Steven, Ross Docherty, Ben Crompton, Arron Lyall and Dean Cornelius ahead of their first pre-season friendly against Strathspey Thistle earlier this week.
It has been something of a shift in transfer tactic, with four of those six signings coming from other Scottish clubs – while the other two had seen their contracts expire south of the border in England.
Between the summer of 2021 and the current transfer window, County had signed 64 players – of which 51, or 80 per cent, came from clubs outside Scotland.
Cowie believes that recruiting domestically has helped the Dingwall outfit get players in the door earlier in the summer, which he hopes in turn will lead to a positive start to life back in the Championship.
More business will be done, particularly after exits for the likes of George Harmon, Jordan Amissah, Ricki Lamie and Michee Efete over the last week, but Cowie is pleased to have got a significant amount of business done early.
Speaking to The County Corner after a 5-0 friendly win over Strathspey, Cowie said: “We wish (those players) well but it does leave a void and we’ll be looking to replace them over the next few days.
“On top of that, we are still maybe looking a little bit light in certain areas of the squad.
“We want real competition. You can see the quality that we’ve brought in so far, and we want to add to that to give us that real opportunity to start the season really well.
“We are way ahead of England in our season – we have our first competitive game in a little over a week. Historically we have signed a lot of English-based players, so you are always waiting for the domino effect of what happens there.
“This year we have got players in early, which is important because it allows us to be together as a group as quickly as possible.
“The new boys have integrated well, and after Strathspey everyone is in a healthy position and looking forward to Saturday’s game against Inverness.”
Up next for County is a friendly against Highland rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
It will be the first derby match in front of fans since 2019, and will double up as a testimonial for Caley Thistle legend Aaron Doran.
“It will be competitive, because every time the two teams meet it always has that edge,” Cowie added.
“When we took the game, it was originally just placed as a friendly. We were then asked about turning it into a testimonial for Aaron Doran, which we gladly accepted because it’s important that he is recognised for the service he has given to Inverness.
“That won’t take a competitive edge away though. It’s the next step in our pre-season as we get ready for Stranraer, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
