Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley is excited by the potential impact new loan signing Kai Fotheringham could have in his side.
Hartley has watched the Dundee United forward on several occasions and was pleased to conclude a deal to bring him to the club for the remainder of the campaign.
Fotheringham started this season on loan at Championship side Raith Rovers and also had a previous spell with Falkirk.
He has recently overcome a troublesome ankle injury and will be included in the Cove squad for Saturday’s game against Airdrieonians.
In Hartley’s view it shows the strength of their relationship with Dundee United, who have included former Cove loanees Ross Graham, Declan Glass and Archie Meekison in their first-team squad in recent weeks.
Hartley said: “We’ve been trying to get him for a few weeks. He’s had a couple of loan spells in the past and I saw him at the start of the season playing for Raith Rovers.
“He’ll offer me something different with his speed; he’s really positive and direct and good in one-on-one situations.
“He gives us another option and I think we’ll need it. You see other teams trying to strengthen and we’ll need to be as strong as we can for the last part of the season.
“Speaking to the young man, he’s very level-headed and speaks well for someone that’s 18 years of age. We asked him what he felt his best position was and he said he was comfortable anywhere across the front three.
“I said to him that United had Meekison, Glass and Graham all playing at Parkhead on Saturday. His aim is to get as many minutes as he can and hopefully contribute, going back to United more streetwise because he’s had a few loans.
“I was really pleased for Ross. I watched the game on Tuesday night (against Dundee) and it just shows you it’s up to these guys to go and perform. I only give them a platform.
😁 We are delighted to announce Dundee United forward Kai Fotheringham has joined us on loan for the remainder of the season
Welcome, @kaifotheringham 🤝
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) February 2, 2022
“They’ll make mistakes, because they’re young. Glassy is away to Killie and I dropped him a message on Wednesday. It’s nice when you see young lads go and perform and that’s the purpose of the loan system.
“We’ve had good relationships with both United and Dundee.”
The Cove manager is targeting one more loan addition to his squad, to ensure they have as much cover as possible for a crucial run-in to the season.
He added: “I’d like to bring another one in if I can. We’re active and we’ll try and get the right one if we can.
“Young Kai fitted the bill for us. I’ll probably look at the front area again – I think we’re OK everywhere else but it’s just to make us as strong as we can.
“The next three months, you don’t know what’s going to happen. We could be hit by Covid again.
“We’ve got to be ready for that and have the squad as strong as we can. Sometimes we’ve had two subs and I can’t have that going into the final months of the season.”