Ross County defender Scott Boyd reckons his partnership with teenage centre half Ben Frempah can flourish this season.
Boyd is County’s longest serving player, having joined initially on loan from Partick Thistle in 2007 before signing permanently the following year.
The 28-year-old has been involved in several central defensive partnerships in that time but has been greatly impressed by the potential shown by English defender Frempah, 19, who joined the Staggies in the summer after leaving Leicester City.
Boyd said: “Ben has been excellent. He’s a young player who is progressing every game. He is looking like a very good acquisition for the club and, hopefully, he and I can form a strong partnership.
“That can only help in terms of taking the club forwards, higher up the table, towards where we want to be.
“We worked well as a partnership in the Highland derby and a run of games together would be great.
“Although he is still very young, he has all of the physical attributes.
“He has impressed me with his willingness to learn. As one of the more experienced players, it is my job to work with him and help him as I try to do with all the younger players.
“As a team, we did well against Inverness – and it is something we’re looking to build on.”
After the international break, County return to Premiership with the visit of champions Celtic to Dingwall on Saturday.
However, there has been no break in County’s training schedule, with Boyd relishing the chance to further adapt to the methods of manager Jim McIntyre, who replaced Derek Adams last month.
He added: “Obviously, the manager is working closely with all of us to try and explain things.
“We are using quite a lot of video analysis, although we have done that in the past.
“But we are doing a lot more on the sports science side with heart-rate monitors used last week. Everything is tailored to your specific needs. That’s one thing I think the players are all enjoying.
“It shows you a lot of things you maybe weren’t aware of and it is something that can only help you as a player.
“It is certainly the way football seems to be going nowadays, especially at the highest level.
“It is something all of us are buying into and we are getting individual programs in the gym, and things like that.
“It will take a bit of time but I’m sure we will reap the benefits – and I think it will help us progress as a club.”