Ross Draper will sit down with new Cove Rangers manager Jim McIntyre this week to discuss his future at the Aberdeen club.
Former Inverness midfielder Draper has already worked with McIntyre, having been signed by the then-Ross County manager for a reported fee of £100,000 from Caley Thistle in 2017.
The 33-year-old, who has battled back from a knee injury, went on loan to League 2 Elgin City last term in search of game time and made the switch to centre-half comfortably.
Over the summer, League 1 champions Cove lost boss Paul Hartley, who moved to manage English League 2 side Hartlepool.
Ross County’s 2016 League Cup-winning manager McIntyre replaced him last week and Draper will discuss whether he’s firmly within his plans for the new campaign.
He said: “I will be speaking to Cove this week to find out the situation. I know Jim McIntyre obviously and it’s a really good appointment for the club.
“He has experience of managing in the Championship and Premiership, so to get him is a great coup for the club.
“Very much like Inverness, if Cove can get a few new faces in then they can improve again and be right up there as well.”
Strong battle for promotion places
Draper was one of the Scottish Cup heroes speaking at former Inverness team-mate Aaron Doran’s testimonial weekend on Saturday and he believes Caley Thistle will have as good a chance as any side in the Championship to make a title push.
They finished third last year and reached the Premiership play-off final, where they lost to St Johnstone last month.
Draper said: “It’s a competitive league.
“(Relegated) Dundee will be well-backed and will go again. They have had past experiences of being promoted from this league, so it won’t be easy.
“The league will also now have Queen’s Park and Cove Rangers, who will have a go and deal well with the step-up.
“I also feel all the other sides will be better for having another year in the Championship. Partick Thistle, for example, will be keen to go again.
“It will be a really competitive and interesting league again and Inverness will feel they can go on and push for promotion.”
Conversation