Ross County manager Malky Mackay will attempt to get one final addition over the line before Friday’s transfer deadline.
Mackay has added nine new faces during the course of the summer with the most recent of those, defender Ryan Leak, arriving on August 8.
That has meant the Staggies’ squad has had plenty time to gel, with Mackay generally pleased with the competition for places.
In spite of that, Mackay says he is still making efforts to bolster his squad ahead of the Friday night deadline.
Mackay said: “We are maybe looking to see if there’s one more.
“If it doesn’t happen, that’s OK, but we would maybe look to see if there’s one more spot available in the squad.
“Neither me, or people looking in from the outside, are saying: ‘There’s a big hole there in the team – why are you not going for that?’
“We’re not at that point, which is good.
“That’s where competition for places is the next step, where two people are really pushing each other for a certain position.
“There are parts of the team where that is the case. We’re not far off it now.”
Staggies boss eager not to be caught short
Mackay is looking to carry a larger squad than last season, with the Staggies having been depleted during their survival run at the tail end of the campaign.
The Staggies boss had to call upon teenager Jamie Williamson as a substitute in the latter stages of County’s Premiership play-off victory over Partick Thistle.
Mackay is determined not to be caught short this time around, adding: “As of the weekend, that’s us locked and loaded until January 1.
“We’ve got to make sure we are robust enough to get through that. We all know that on any given day, two or three injuries wipes you out and all of a sudden you are back to not having enough on the bench.
“It’s a reasonably small staff of players we carry, and we’ve got to have enough for that bench to be able to adapt and change, and to move personnel as well as shape and formation.
“We need to be able to have nine on the bench.
“We made the conscious decision to put most of our youngsters out on loan.
“That’s for the good of the club and the players, rather than for the good of me in sticking people in the stand, or people that will be in the eighth or ninth position for the whole six months.
“It’s just not what you should do.
“There’s a balance to it. You’ve got to be able to have people that, if everyone is fit, there is real competition for places.”
‘Stupid’ offer required for Dhanda to depart
Mackay was categorical in stating midfielder Yan Dhanda would not be sold prior to the deadline, when addressing the Englishman’s future earlier this month.
The Staggies boss has reiterated his stance as the final hours of the window approach, adding: “It would genuinely take something extraordinary.
“I’m not selling him, so that’s that.
“For that statement to change, it would have to be something stupid.”
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