BY ALAN TEMPLE – Capital City Press
Raith Rovers boss Ray McKinnon secured his seventh summer signing by snapping up former Partick Thistle midfielder James Craigen – after pursuing the player for a month.
The 24-year-old, who joined the Jags from Edinburgh University in 2012, boasts 59 Scottish Premiership appearances in the last two seasons, yet he was surprisingly released by manager Alan Archibald on May 22.
That immediately put Rovers boss McKinnon on red alert, and he reckons the Fifers have competed a major coup by attracting the gifted midfielder to Stark’s Park.
McKinnon said: “He has been a target of mine for a month so I am absolutely delighted.
“He’ll be a really good addition to the squad and is very much in the same mould as the other players we have signed – fit, hungry and talented, with his whole career ahead of him.
“Like everyone we have gone for this summer, he is the right type for us.”
Former Preston North End youth player Craigen adds to the arrivals of Kyle Benedictus, Mitch Megginson, Ryan McCord, Darren Petrie, Lewis Toshney and the loan signing of Craig Wighton from Dundee.
And, barring any particularly attractive deals becoming available, McKinnon has confirmed he is now happy with the make-up of his squad.
He added: “We’ll probably just sit like this for the next month and develop the group we have.”
Meanwhile, back-up goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw has penned a new one-year deal in Kirkcaldy.
