Ross County manager Owen Coyle says he has landed his top January target after completing the loan signing of Aberdeen midfielder Greg Tansey.
Tansey has joined the Staggies until the end of the season, having found starting opportunities at Pittodrie hard to come by in recent weeks following a groin operation in September.
Coyle was determined to give Tansey the chance to resurrect his career at Victoria Park, and after holding discussions with Dons boss Derek McInnes he says landing the 29-year-old Englishman was his main January priority.
Coyle said: “Sometimes when you target certain players, you don’t get them in the order you would like.
“To be fair, Greg Tansey was the first one I wanted in. Derek McInnes has been very fair to Greg because he has recognised he brought him in to play a big part at Aberdeen.
“One or two things, the little injuries, have worked against him. What you have to understand is when you’re at Aberdeen, the second best team in the country for a number of years, it takes a long time to get back into the team when you go out through injury.
“They have very good players. At smaller clubs, if someone goes out, once fit they’re right back in.
“To be fair to Derek, he recognised that Greg needs to play. And it’s up to Greg now to come and show everybody what he’s got.
“If he does, he is going to play and enjoy himself – and help Ross County.”
Although Tansey has joined County on a temporary deal until the end of the season, the former Caley Thistle midfielder still has more than two years remaining on his Dons contract, which expires in 2020.
Coyle is hopeful of striking a permanent deal to sign Tansey however, and he added: “Greg has been brought in on loan, but we want him here long-term. He knows that. That’s a conversation we will have with Aberdeen further down the line.
“But they know, and Greg knows because I told him straight, we want him with a view to being here beyond the summer.”
Tansey will rekindle his partnership with his former Caley Thistle team-mate Ross Draper, who joined the Staggies in a £100,000 deal last summer.
The pair helped Inverness win the Scottish Cup in 2015, and Coyle is hopeful Tansey’s arrival can be of benefit to Draper, adding: “Ross and Greg did well together. Ross knows he has been a bit stop-start since he came in and needs to get to the levels where he can show that physicality and everything else.
“Ross is a terrific lad as well and, again, it will give him a boost as well. It is up to both of them to get to the levels where they make sure they are in the team.”