Peterhead manager Jim McInally believes Josh Rae’s emergency loan move to Queen of the South provides the goalkeeper with a good opportunity.
The 20-year-old custodian has joined the Championship side on a seven-day deal, which could be extended.
With football below the Championship still suspended, McInally believes the opportunity to train with a full-time side in the Doonhamers, and potentially play in Scotland’s second tier, is a good chance for Rae.
The former Celtic and Leeds youth player joined the Blue Toon in the summer has impressed so far this term, keeping four clean sheets in 13 appearances.
Rae still harbours ambitions to return to full-time football and McInally believes being in that environment for a short period at Palmerston will be a good thing.
The SPFL’s longest-serving manager said: “It’s a good thing for Josh and a good chance for him more than anything else.
“Queen of the South are full-time, so it will get him training every day and working on his goalkeeping.
“The only concern would be in case he got injured, but that’s just the chance you take.
“The way things are you can’t stand in a player’s way, you’ve got to try to help them out and help them develop.
“Ultimately these players are out of contract at the end of the season, so you’ve got to think of the bigger picture and chances that might be there for them.
“Josh would like go back to full-time football at some point so this is a chance for him to be in that environment for a spell again.
“It just makes sense and, when Allan Johnston phoned me to ask about it, I had no reason to say no because there were too many benefits to it.”
How long Rae ends up spending with Queen of the South remains to be seen.
McInally says the clubs will need to see how things transpire regarding the resumption of the lower leagues.
The SFA and Scottish Government postponed football below the Championship for at least three weeks on January 11.
That period will be up on Monday, but clubs have yet to be notified about whether the suspension will be extended or when they may return.
McInally added: “We’ll have to see how things progress and how long it may be, but that’s just part of the situation we’re in.
“We’ve been suspended, but we still haven’t got a clue when we’ll be restarting.
“We’re nearly at the end of the three weeks we’ve been suspended, so surely come the end of the week we’ll be told if we’re restarting and when it might be.
“It’s important for clubs I think that we know when we will be restarting.”
