Harry Paton admits he might have to wait for brother Ben to join him in Ross County’s midfield – as he’s excelling as an emergency left-back.
The Canadian international, 23, is delighted his 21-year-old sibling has teamed up with him at the Scottish Premiership this summer after moving north from Blackburn Rovers.
With on-loan Southampton full-back Jake Vokins and utility midfielder Jack Burroughs injured, Ben was asked to start his Staggies career on the left side of defence against champions Rangers recently.
Despite the 4-2 league loss that day, he performed well enough to be thrown in again in the 1-1 draw at Aberdeen just over a week ago.
Harry has been impressed, but not surprised, Ben has eased into the role, but hopes they can join forces before long in the middle of the park.
He said: “Ben has been doing extremely well.
“To be able to play with him in the Scottish Premiership is brilliant. We have never played in the same team before. We have trained together a lot, but to play at the highest level in Scotland is something we’d never dreamed of doing.
“We always talked about it, but never dreamed it could have happened in reality. He’s playing a bit too well at left-back, so it might be a while before he’s in midfield!
“No, but it does show he is a quality player. If he can do a job there, it shows that he could do a lot more in his natural midfield position. If we could get together in the middle, then hopefully that chemistry would be really good.”
Paton said his younger brother is enjoying the shift from major English city to the relative peace of the Highlands.
He added: “Ben has come up to visit over the past few years and he really likes it up here. It’s a bit different from where he stayed before, in Manchester.
“This is a lot quieter and outdoorsy, which he loves. He is settling in well.”
The Patons follow in the footsteps of Tony and Russell Dingwall, who were with the Staggies and now play alongside one another at League Two club Elgin City.
Canadians keep eye on Premiership
After Covid hit Ross County, shutting down the football operations for 10 days in July, Paton was off to the Gold Cup with Canada.
He never played, but was still thrilled to be part of it and, despite missing out on their latest World Cup qualifiers against Honduras, the USA and El Salvador, he’s confident that continuing to shine in Scotland’s biggest league can lead to caps.
Paton said: “July was a crazy month for me. I was unlucky with the Covid protocols we had here and I didn’t get my full cap and chance there, but I did train well (with Canada) and hopefully impressed the coaches.
“I was unlucky not to get into the squad for the qualifiers for this international break. They brought out a really strong squad out for those games.
“The Scottish Premiership is a high level. Last season, I got a lot of minutes under my belt, was playing well and I just want to keep that up. I am going to get my head down and hopefully there will be another chance for come the next international break.”
Hard yards can kick County on
Saturday sees County return to action with a trip to Celtic, having been a whisker away from winning at Aberdeen.
With 12 new players checking in this summer, Paton already sees signs of progression ahead of their trip to Glasgow.
He added: “Since the start of the season, we have been working really hard in training, especially with all the new players coming in.
“The first few games were tough, but we have been working on our shape and movement and it showed in the Aberdeen game when we created a lot more chances.
“Even in the Rangers game, we scored twice (in a 4-2 loss) and created a lot more chances, so we will keep progressing and that comes through hard work.”
