Ross County have bolstered their backline with the loan additions of Kacper Lopata and Eli Campbell.
Barnsley centre-half Lopata and Everton defender Campbell have joined the Staggies on temporary deals until the end of the season.
Campbell, 20, has been a regular for the Toffees’ under-21s side, but gained first team experience on loan with Fleetwood Town last season where he made 12 appearances.
He was previously the under-18 captain at Everton, and represented England at under-18 level.
Lopata, 23, is a former Poland under-21 international who has made 17 appearances since joining the English League One Tykes last summer, and spent the latter part of last season on loan with Port Vale.
He previously played for a number of English sides, including Brighton, Sheffield United and Southend United.
Lopata has been in England since the age of nine, when his family moved from Poland to Bristol.
In an interview with the Yorkshire Post last year following his move to Barnsley, former Leeds United head coach Dave Hockaday – who mentored Lopata at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College – spoke in glowing terms about the 6ft 4in centre-back.
Hockaday said: “He has humility in abundance and fire burning in his stomach to reach for the stars. Everything this young man achieves, he earns and fully deserves.”
The double loan capture brings Don Cowie’s total tally of summer additions to 12.
Cowie said: “We are delighted to secure Kacper for the season. He is a commanding presence and adds to our defensive options that we have at the club.
“He is a Polish youth international so comes to us good pedigree.
“We are really happy to secure Eli for the season. He has represented England at U18 level as well as captaining the Everton U18 side, he brings another option to the left-side of our defence.
“He was impressive during his time at Fleetwood and we are delighted to have him here for the season ahead.”
Ricki Lamie dealt setback in recovery
The deals to bring Lopata and Campbell to Dingwall come after the Staggies allowed teenager Connall Ewan to join Caley Thistle on loan for the campaign.
Cowie has also revealed that Ricki Lamie has suffered a setback in his recovery from an Achilles injury.
Lamie, who joined County in the summer after cancelling a pre-contract arrangement with Dundee, played three Premier Sports Cup matches before suffering the injury in the final game of the section against Stirling Albion.
Cowie is keen to apply patience in nursing the 31-year-old back to fitness.
He added: “He had a slight setback last week, maybe 10 days ago. It is an Achilles injury – a sensitive area that can be triggered quite easily.
“It has set him back a bit, but there’s no timescale.
“There’s nothing major in the injury, it is just symptom-led.
“We’ve got to be patient.”
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