Ross County co-manager Steven Ferguson is confident the Staggies can agree a new deal with Billy Mckay.
Defender Tom Grivosti’s decision to sign a new one-year contract yesterday leaves striker Mckay as the only player yet to commit his future to the Dingwall, with the Staggies’ leading scorer having been left with an offer prior to going on holiday.
Should Mckay pledge his future, Ferguson reckons the newly-promoted Staggies will be only two signings short of the squad they require for the upcoming Premiership campaign.
A goalkeeper to compete with new signing Ross Laidlaw is the next priority for Ferguson and fellow co-manager Stuart Kettlewell, who are keen to farm youngster Ross Munro out on loan.
Ferguson said: “We want to sign another goalkeeper, and potentially one more.
“We are very close to getting all our renegotiations over the line, but if they break down for whatever reason we would obviously need to look for more.
“Scott Fox leaving gave us a wee spanner in the works, as we were hoping to keep Scott. We made no secret of that.
“We need to look for two goalkeepers, but we are well down the road with that and hopefully we will be able to confirm that soon.”
County will travel to Holland for a five-day pre-season training camp next month, with a fixture against Eredivisie side Groningen already confirmed for Friday, July 5 and the Staggies close to finalising a second fixture two days later.
Ferguson is keen to have the bulk of County’s squad in place for the trip, adding: “If we can get as close to where we are going to be for the season before we go to Holland then it gives us a real good start.
“Having that condensed environment, six or seven days away, lets the new boys get to know the non-negotiables we always talk about.
“The players who are already here know what we expect of them but a pre-season trip is great for bedding the new ones in.
“We will be having a second game and we are waiting for it to be confirmed.
“It will be against either a Belgian league side or a Dutch one, but we are just waiting for the plans to be finalised.”