Richard Foster is ready for a new challenge at a new club after leaving Ross County to join St Johnstone.
The full back, who had a year remaining on his contract at the Staggies, was told he was surplus to requirements at Victoria Park and could leave the club for free.
St Johnstone and Kilmarnock were interested in Foster but the former Rangers and Aberdeen player has chosen to move to Perth and is in line to make his debut against Premiership champions Celtic today.
He said: “I had another year at County but was told I was free to go if I could find a club. There were other options for me but this is the one that stood out.
“I had known of St Johnstone’s interest for a week or so and I got the call to say collect your stuff and get down the A9. It is good to get it over with relatively quickly.
“It will be a baptism of fire but I am certainly match fit. I played last week for Ross County.
“It will be a tough game with the way Celtic have started the season but I am ready. It’s games like this that you want to be involved in.”
Staggies manager Jim McIntyre brought in full backs Erik Cikos and Kenny van der Weg in the summer, leaving Elgin-born Foster surplus to requirements.
He said: “Richard made a great contribution to the club last season as we won the League Cup and finished in the top six.
“However, we strengthened the squad in the full back area over the summer and are very happy with our options, so we wish Richard well in the next chapter of his career with St Johnstone.”
County’s attention turns to this afternoon’s game against Killie at Victoria Park.
Both sides recovered from opening-day defeats to register their first victories of the new campaign last weekend, with Lee Clark’s side coming from behind to defeat Hamilton Accies 2-1 at New Douglas Park.
Clark has revamped the Killie squad with 13 new signings this summer, the latest being the loan addition of Burnley defender Luke Hendrie yesterday nut McIntyre expects much of the Ayrshire side’s threat to come from the familiar figure of vastly-experienced attacker Kris Boyd.
McIntyre added: “They’ve probably got one of the most lethal marksmen Scotland has had in Kris Boyd. We’ve got to stop the ball getting into the box and stop it at source.”
