Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell is confident returning striker Brian Graham can complement the Staggies’ attacking options.
County brought Graham back to Victoria Park last week from English League 2 side Cheltenham Town, two years after he left the Staggies having scored 17 goals in 36 appearances during a 12-month spell.
Although Kettlewell and fellow co-manager Steven Ferguson started Declan McManus and Billy Mckay for Saturday’s 1-0 opening day Championship victory over Alloa Athletic, Graham made his first appearance of his second spell at Dingwall as a 71st minute substitute.
With Ryan Dow and Greg Morrison also vying for a place, Kettlewell is pleased with the balance County have up front.
Kettlewell said: “We feel we’ve got good players and we’ve kept saying that over the last number of weeks, but we felt having that other option in that area of the pitch would be important to us for the coming season.
“Brian’s stature will tell you he is different from other players, and we will obviously look for him to bring others into the game.
“Most importantly as a striker you are judged on your goalscoring and the effect you have between the goalposts.
“With the guys we have at the club, Ryan Dow, Billy Mckay, Declan McManus and Brian Graham, as well as young Greg Morrison, we feel that gives us good options in there in different ways.
“We can approach certain games, whether it be at home or away. We feel it’s a good fit.”
Kettlewell was impressed by 30-year-old Graham’s eagerness to return to the Highland club, who he helped to League Cup success over Hibernian in 2016, adding: “We want to deal with players who want to come to this club, and with him having options, and probably ones closer to where his family home is, sometimes that can be a wee bit more attractive for a lot of people.
“But ultimately if you want to do well in football, football is the decision, not logistics, so it was massive for us.
“From our point of view we note the fact he was a massive part of a massive success at this club in winning the League Cup. I think we all saw the impact he had on that particular day.
“That shows he’s comfortable in that environment, with a bit of pressure, and comfortable in the bigger games.
“We feel we will have a few of them over the course of the season.”
