Paul Hartley hopes Cove Rangers will benefit from the top-level experience Iain Vigurs and Ross Draper will bring to the club.
The League One club made the two significant signings this week in bringing in a duo who have spent the majority of their careers in the top flight.
Vigurs and Draper spent last season at Ross County and helped the Staggies stay in the top flight. Both have also been at Caley Thistle, where Draper won the Scottish Cup in 2015.
They have signed three-year deals at Cove and Hartley reckons the new additions can have a big impact.
Hartley said: “It’s really good business. We’ve got two really experienced players who were playing in the Premiership last year and are still capable of playing there. For us to get them is terrific.
“They’re full of experience and quality. I’m really happy. I signed to sign (Ross) Draper back in 2016 at Dundee – we spoke but he decided to stay at Inverness. He’s a player I’ve really admired.
“They’ve got to want to come and thankfully they did. It’s a different step for them – they’re used to being full-time but I’m sure they’ll adjust no problem.
“We always try to get good players in at Cove and I think the experience they can give us on the pitch will help us.
“Maybe towards the end of the season we lacked that experience. They’re two good leaders and know the game – they’ve been around long enough, in the top flight, to know how to win games. Draper has won the Scottish Cup and they’ve won the Championship.”
Both players are making the transition to part-time football, having spent their entire careers in the full-time game.
Midfield is already a strong area at Cove, with Fraser Fyvie, Blair Yule and Connor Scully on board, with Hartley reckoning these signings could bring out more from his players.
He added: “I always felt that as a player. If you see someone coming in that plays in your position, you had to up your performance levels. Hopefully that’s what they’ll do.”
It provides extra midfield cover for Hartley too, who saw Seb Ross return to full-time football with Falkirk earlier this week.
He added: “When we spoke to Seb at the start of last season, our hope was we could have that model where we could be full-time. We’ve not quite managed that yet because of the Covid situation.
“An opportunity for a young player to go back full-time, we weren’t going to stand in his way. We said that all along, we won’t stand in anybody’s way. His ambition is to be full-time – he’s come from an environment where he’s been full-time for five years.
“It’s difficult when you’re a young player to change that. Good luck to him.”