Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell says defender Marcus Fraser is eager to right the wrongs of the previous campaign after committing to the Staggies’ Championship push.
Fraser had been out of contract with County following their relegation from the Premiership last season, but yesterday became the latest player to stay on as part of Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson’s squad for the second-tier.
The 23-year-old had little first team experience when he joined the Staggies in January 2015 after leaving Celtic, where he came through the youth ranks, but has gone on to make 131 appearances for County and has captained the side in place of Andrew Davies on several occasions.
Although County were unwilling to specify the full length of Fraser’s new contract, Kettlewell is thrilled the former Scotland under-21 international will be part of the forthcoming Championship campaign.
Kettlewell said: “We see Marcus as being a huge part of what we want to do next season for a number of reasons.
“He has been such a good servant to the football club, and with the responsibility and experience he has had already you forget he’s still a relatively young player.
“Myself and Steven want to work with ambitious guys who are hungry for success. Marcus certainly falls into that category, we see him as being a huge influence on our squad.
“It just sums up the type of character he is that he has been asked to take on the responsibility of being captain several times last season. He did so manfully, and mostly through a difficult season.
“I’m sure Marcus will learn so much from that as well, as we all do – you learn so much from the negatives, sometimes even more so than from the positives.
“I think Marcus will feel that will be the case, but knowing the type of lad he is he will have a burning desire to bounce back again and try to help the club progress next season.
“Both myself and Steven are just delighted he will be here and he will be a part of what we are doing. We both feel he can be a massive influence on what we are doing at Ross County.”
County remain in talks with Davies, Alex Schalk, Jim O’Brien, Ryan Dow and Sean Kelly over new terms, and Kettlewell added: “We are still in dialogue with a few guys. We have a few different scenarios but things are ticking along. Myself and Steven are working away to ensure we are piecing together the best possible squad that we feel we can get for next season.
“We also believe it’s not a case of panicking and rushing in, and being silly about how we go about doing our business.
“We are trying to be as methodical as we possibly can. and if we can do that we feel that when the players return on June 21 we will be sitting in a good position ready to get started for the new season.”