Ross County boss Don Cowie won the race to sign Huddersfield Town forward Kieran Phillips thanks to a game of patience.
Cowie’s Premiership side – who climbed up to ninth thanks to a 1-0 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday – have already brought Hibernian midfielder Nohan Kenneh back for a second loan spell at Dingwall in the winter window.
And they have now confirmed the signing of 24-year-old Phillips for undisclosed fee and on a two-and-a-half year contract.
He is expected to go straight into the squad for Saturday’s home lunchtime league showdown with Premiership leaders and defending champions Celtic.
Phillips had yet to feature for Huddersfield this term – having had loan stints at Walsall, Exeter, Morecambe and Shrewsbury since 2021.
But his most recent experience came earlier this season when he scored 15 goals in 31 games in the United States for USL side Sacramento Republic, where former ICT star Nick Ross is a key figure.
County are the Premiership’s lowest scorers, with just 22 goals from their 22 fixtures.
Cowie explained that Phillips brings a different dimension to their front-line.
He said: “We are delighted to sign Kieran. We identified him in the summer, but had to be patient while he was on loan at Sacramento.
“He had a fantastic spell there scoring a lot of goals.
“Kieran is a different profile to our current forwards and we all look forward to working with him.”
Keeper next on the list for County?
With goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw out with a knee injury for at least another month, County are also keen to add another goalie.
German-born Ghana under-23 international Jordan Amissah has played the last few games after coming in on a short-term deal, with Jack Hamilton also on the books.
County’s victory at Killie followed away wins at Dundee and Aberdeen and a thrilling 2-2 home draw with Hearts.
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