Ross County manager Jim McIntyre is confident attacker Billy Mckay will rediscover his best form at Dingwall after crossing the Highland divide to join the Staggies.
Mckay yesterday joined County on a two-year contract after leaving Wigan Athletic, with the Northern Irishman well known to Staggies supporters having had two spells with rivals Caley Thistle.
His first, in which he netted 62 goals in 141 appearances, earned a £150,000 move to the Latics in January 2015.
Mckay struggled, making just 10 appearances for the club, starting once, before spending the last two years out on loan. After being relegated with Dundee United in 2016 and failing to make an impact in another loan spell with Oldham Athletic in the early part of last season, Mckay rejoined a Caley Jags side struggling at the foot of the Premiership in January.
The Northern Ireland international was unable to save Richie Foran’s men from the drop with just four goals in 15 matches.
Despite Mckay’s recent struggles, McIntyre is sure the 28-year-old will have the stage to rediscover his best form at Victoria Park.
McIntyre said: “I have no doubt he has got the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. In the season he had with Caley Thistle before he got his move to Wigan he was prolific.
“It’s like any scorer, when playing with confidence and regularly and in a team with confidence it can be key. No disrespect to Dundee United and Inverness but his last two loan spells in Scotland were at clubs struggling at the wrong end of the table and were relegated.
“Confidence is a massive part of football and I know he will do well at County.” McIntyre says Mckay will need time to get up to speed, having undergone an operation for a long-standing groin problem this summer.
McIntyre added: “He has also been carrying an injury for more than a year, which had not been diagnosed properly but it has now and he has had an operation to fix that. He will be two or three weeks behind everyone else but it is a matter of getting his fitness up to speed.
“He also had to get a finger operation as well from a broken bone from last season, so he will be behind the others. However, we are not signing him just for the next two of three weeks, we are signing him for two years and, hopefully, beyond that.”