Ross County winger Davis Keillor-Dunn will be allowed to find a new club after growing frustrated at a lack of starting opportunities.
Following a promising start to his Staggies career, in which he netted six goals in 46 appearances after moving from Chesterfield in 2016, Keillor-Dunn has increasingly found himself on the periphery of the Staggies’ first team.
The Englishman has not featured since a 2-1 Championship victory over Dunfermline on November 24 last year, and spent the latter half of the campaign on loan at Falkirk.
Although Keillor-Dunn netted in a 3-2 win for the County’s reserves against Fraserburgh in the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup on Tuesday, Staggies co-manager Stuart Kettlewell says the 21-year-old is likely to move on, with the consistency of his fellow wingers Michael Gardyne and Josh Mullin leaving him down the pecking order.
Kettlewell said: “Davis has his heart set on playing from the start every single week. He’s a guy who wants to play and probably feels he should play 90 minutes every week.
“We don’t feel we can guarantee that at this stage.
“He obviously managed to get another 90 minutes through the week. We will see how that situation develops, but we’re mindful there is a player there who really thinks he should be playing every week.
“If you look at the quality we’ve had in the wide areas from Michael Gardyne and Josh Mullin, their record speaks for itself. That guarantee is not there.
“It is one of those situations where we may have to look and see if there are other opportunities elsewhere.
“A lot of that is to do with the player as well. Yes, he would love an opportunity to start every game here. We can’t guarantee him that.
“It’s pretty simple, so we’ll potentially have to look and see what else is out there and try to fulfill what he feels his needs are.”
County are looking to build on an excellent start to the Premiership campaign when they face Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow, fresh from their opening day 3-0 triumph over Hamilton Accies.
Kettlewell feels the Staggies’ fierce competition for places is highlighted by the players who were not picked from the start, and he added: “We had a massive decision to make for Saturday – as hard as it could possibly be.
“It is very difficult to give a reason why we’re leaving players out. Sometimes you’re looking for something that’s gone wrong at some stage in pre-season, but we genuinely couldn’t find anything to fault in them because the standards have been so high from all of these guys.
“Keith Watson and Tom Grivosti missed out on the starting 11 against Hamilton and Liam Fontaine and Callum Morris got the call.
“We came away at the end of the game with a clean sheet and 3-0 win. Potentially, the other two centre-backs could have slotted in there and been as strong.
“The competition in that area is incredible. You’d hang your hat on them all.”
