Manager Ryan Esson believes the ambition of Strathspey Thistle has allowed them to sign Wallace Duffy.
The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle, St Johnstone and Scotland Under-19 international has penned a three-year contract with the Grantown Jags, who are bottom of the Breedon Highland League.
Defender Duffy spent four years with Inverness and played in the 2023 Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic.
Friends reunited at Strathspey Thistle
Now Duffy has made the decision to go from full-time to part-time football by linking up with former Inverness colleagues Esson and assistant manager Aaron Doran at Seafield Park.
Esson is thrilled with his new recruit as he looks to push Strathspey up the table.
He said: “Credit to the owner and the people behind the scenes for making this happen.
“As soon as I spoke to Wallace and he showed an interest, I went to the directors and they’ve made it happen.
“It’s been a collective effort from the club to sign Wallace and fair play to the people running the club because they’ve got ambitions in terms of the next few years.
“If we can, we want to add quality players like Wallace. The boys we’ve got have done well already, but this is us adding to the squad.
“I think all the players we’ve signed (Filip Franczak, Paul Brindle, Kieran Chalmers and Stephen Rennie prior to Duffy) have added quality and competition to the squad, which is key.
“The club is showing ambition on and off the pitch, they’ve built a new hospitality suite and there are various other things happening to move the club forward.
“The people at the club have embraced what’s needed to be done to move Strathspey forward and now we need to start winning more games.”
Wallace Duffy can be difference-maker
When it comes to winning games, Esson believes Duffy can make a major impact at the heart of Strathspey’s defence.
He added: “Wallace adds real experience, he’s quick, he’s aggressive and he’s good tactically.
“He will add something to the squad that we didn’t previously have.
“We needed a centre-half and Wallace will add real quality and competition to the squad.
“Wallace can play anywhere across the back four, but I see him playing at centre-back.
“We’ve had players filling in there and we haven’t had a settled back four since I came in.
“But hopefully Wallace can give us that certainty in that position and stop us losing sloppy goals with the way he talks and the way he defends.
“I don’t just want to add bodies for the sake of it – we want to bring quality players to Strathspey and Wallace is a quality player.”
Lossie’s new face can add attacking edge
Ian Campbell hopes new signing Ryan Matheson can give Lossiemouth an increased threat in the final third.
The Coasters have signed the 25-year-old winger on a two-year contract from Junior outfit Deveronside.
Matheson follows his brother – Keane, who joined Deveronvale in the summer – in making the step up to the Breedon Highland League this season.
Lossie coach Campbell said: “We’ve watched Ryan quite a few times playing for Deveronside and a couple of folk in the Juniors have recommended him to us as well.
“Ryan is quick and direct in the forward areas and we feel he can add something to our side in the final third.
“We’re trying to freshen things up and turn the corner and hopefully Ryan can help us do that.
“It’s good that Ryan wants to make the step up and test himself at this level.
“I know he’s been close to coming into the Highland League a few times, but for one reason or another, it hasn’t happened. Thankfully now he’s joined us.
“Although Deveronside didn’t want to lose Ryan, they were very open about it and very good to deal with, which is appreciated.”
Despite that, Campbell says it’s important the Coasters still look to strengthen their playing squad where they can.
He added: “Although the club is still working on appointing a manager, we’re still trying to strengthen where we can and ensure that the squad is in a good place.
“We’ve got a few targets – some of them were on our radar in the summer and we didn’t manage to get them, but we’ll try again.”
Conversation