New Ross County loanee Declan Drysdale took advice from Coventry City teammate and Staggies' academy graduate Josh Reid ahead of Dingwall move
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Declan Drysdale was sold on a move to Ross County by Coventry City’s young Dingwall import Josh Reid.
Reid (19), who joined the Sky Blues a year ago, urged the 22-year-old central defender to grab the chance of playing in Scotland’s Premiership.
Born in the Wirral and raised on Merseyside, the could easily have felt a touch of culture-shock after venturing north this week, but already feels like he has found a home-from-home in the Highlands.
After tasting promotion glory as Cambridge United rose to League One last season, the 6ft 5ins tall centre half has immediately felt at ease within County’s driven dressing room.
“Josh was one of the first people I spoke to,” the defender said. “I obviously spoke to Jack Burroughs who is on loan here from Coventry and he was complimentary, but Josh grew up in the area so I asked him a lot about the good things here.
“He just told me to go for it. He gave me a good insight into what to expect and he’s a good lad Josh, so I knew I could trust him.
“It happened very quickly. When I got the call from Coventry saying Ross County were interested, I said, straight away, ‘let’s do it’.
“I think playing in the Scottish Premiership will help me massively as the next challenge and step up for me.
“I feel like now is the time to kick on and it is a really good level I want to play at and do well at.”
The allure of facing the Old Firm and Scotland’s other big clubs was powerful for Drysdale.
“As the gaffer said to me, the amount of exposure you get here in Scotland is phenomenal, playing against all the big teams here,” he said.
“I want to expose myself to it. We had a strategy meeting yesterday at County about the club and what it means to local people, the chairman and things like that. Already, I’m seeing this could be a home away from home for me. “
