Keeper Doohan poised for loan deal at County
ROSS County manager Stuart Kettlewell expects to complete the season-long loan signing of Celtic goalkeeper Ross Doohan in the next 48 hours.
The 22-year-old played for County as a trialist against his parent club in yesterday’s 2-0 friendly defeat at Parkhead.
Doohan spent the previous two campaigns on loan at Ayr United, but is now set to continue his development in the Highlands.
‘We’ve known for a wee while that Celtic were going to allow us to take in Ross for the season, but it’s been difficult to get there,’ said Kettlewell.
‘Obviously, Celtic have had issues trying to get another goalkeeper in themselves. But we know Ross well and know what he is capable of.
‘It’s just a case of getting to that stage and, fortunately, we feel we are a bit closer getting him.
‘He was literally dropped into our dressing room, but you could see how he handled the game and how the guys reacted to him that he will be a really good addition to the goalkeeping department.’
Kettlewell admitted he had been tracking the Scotland Under-21 cap for some time. Concluding the deal would see Doohan compete with Ross Laidlaw and Ross Munro.
‘We played against him for a season at Ayr (when County were in the Championship) and we kept a note of what he was doing last season,’ added Kettlewell.
‘Speaking to (Ayr manager) Mark Kerr, they were desperate to keep him, but Celtic obviously feel the Premier League is the next level for him to go to.
‘Fortunately, we are almost able to do something and I’m pretty confident that by Tuesday we’ll be able to make that happen.’
County drew with Livingston on Saturday and Kettlewell believes the full squad will feel the benefit of back-to-back friendlies after a previous game against Hibs had to be cancelled.
‘What is the point in having guys sitting at home in their houses up the road not playing football?’ said Kettlewell.
‘I’ve said it on numerous occasions we’d be stretched trying to play two full games, but it is pre-season and results don’t matter, as much.
‘One or two of the new guys were pitched in and young ones. Young (Josh) Reid was against (Jeremie) Frimpong and (James) Forrest and that’s as good an education as we could give him. He’s not going to experience the scenarios he found here in a training session, so there’s no negative.
‘I had to take the opportunity which came our way, having missed out on the game with Hibs last week.’
The Highlanders host Motherwell in their Premiership opener a week today.
‘We’ll make sure they recuperate, have a light session on Tuesday and then we’ll do Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday preparing for Motherwell on Monday night,’ added Kettlewell.
‘It’s Dingwall, so that suits in terms of travel. It’s been a long time coming. I just want the game going again with no hiccups and in a safe fashion.
‘You want fans in stadiums, but we need to be able to walk before we can run. First and foremost, we need to play the games.’