Derek Adams says Ross County ‘not strong enough in depth’ as he maps out January plans

Derek Adams is planning to be proactive in the January transfer window in his efforts to improve Ross County’s strength in depth.

Adams has taken charge of seven matches since returning to the Staggies for a third spell as manager, when he replaced Malky Mackay in November.

During that period, Adams has been assessing his recently-inherited squad, with the transfer window now open for the duration of the month.

Adams will now map out his plans to chairman Roy MacGregor and chief executive Steven Ferguson, in order to address what he feels is a lack of depth in the Staggies’ squad.

He said: “I need to sit down with the chairman and CEO.

“I’ve already spoken to them and given my plans for the January transfer window.

“We’re going to have to be active in it because you can see we’re not strong enough in depth or in quality going forward.

“When you can’t make like for like substitutions, that gives you huge problems.”

New man Strong to spearhead Staggies’ recruitment drive

Adams’ first move of the transfer window was to bring in Greg Strong as the Staggies’ new head of recruitment.

Strong, a former defender who played alongside Adams at Motherwell and Livingston, has worked under the Staggies boss in similar recruitment roles at Plymouth Argyle and Morecambe.

Adams says Strong will be a valuable addition to the Staggies, given his experience in scouting the English market in particular.

He added: “We now have a presence in England which we didn’t have.

“We have a head of recruitment who is going to be full-time, who is going to scour the market for players, like I’ve done over my career.

“It is about getting in additions to help us, because, as you can see, we lack strength in depth.”

Staggies to return to training next week

County signed off for the winter break in defeat, going down 3-0 to Aberdeen at Victoria Park on Tuesday.

The loss means County remain 11th in the Premiership, six points ahead of bottom club Livingston.

County’s players have had time off since that match, but Adams says the squad will be remaining in Dingwall throughout the shutdown as they prepare for the second half of the campaign.

The Staggies return to action at home to Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup fourth round on January 20, before resuming their league campaign away to Premiership leaders Celtic seven days later.

Adams added: “They are getting some time off, but we’ll be back in next Monday to get going again.

“We don’t have a winter tour this year because the budget was spent, so we have to stay here and get on with it.”