Raith Rovers’ latest signing Shaun Byrne adds attributes to the centre of midfield that have been missing since the start of the season.
Sam Stanton has been an able deputy in the sole holding position but he is more suited to playing further forward and the likes of Scott Brown and Ross Matthews – missing through injury – are more suited to the role.
Brown could be involved this weekend as he stepped up his recovery recently, though will likely start on the bench if he does.
Manager Ian Murray also said that Byrne would take a short time to get up to speed – but what can we expect from the 30-year-old when he does make his debut for the Rovers?
Lack of minutes at Dundee recently
Last season under manager Gary Bowyer, Byrne found a run in the team difficult to come by.
That’s despite a run of four starts – three in the league – which returned four victories.
First-team football was at the top of Byrne’s priority list when he chose Stark’s Park as his next destination.
Shaun Byrne shows up well against league average
But what of the minutes he did get last season?
When asked to describe the type of player he is, Byrne – who has won promotion from the Championship three times – replied: “I try to protect the back four a bit more and let the attacking players go and show what they can do, knowing that I will be behind them and hopefully trying to help them as well.
“I also like to get on the ball and make things happen.”
Looking at the StatsBomb radar below – which compares a list of Byrne’s metrics with the league average – we can see that, across his 11 league appearances last season, he outperformed the average in three areas related to keeping the ball.
Byrne ranked well when it came to completed passes, completed passes under pressure and scored low on turnovers – meaning he rarely gives the ball away.
In fact, according to Wyscout, Byrne ranked fourth for passing accuracy in the whole of the Championship last season.
The midfielder scores lower in a couple of defensive metrics than the league average – such as total pressures or defensive actions – but this could be down to Dundee dominating the ball more than their opponents.
