Raith Rovers boss Ian Murray is thrilled to have added Premiership experience to his defensive options after the capture of St Johnstone’s James Brown.
The 26-year-old has joined the Stark’s Park side on loan for the remainder of the campaign and is set to leave Saints in the summer at the end of his current contract.
Murray was determined to beef up his rearguard following the departure of Dan O’Reilly for Partick Thistle at the start of January.
And he admits he was always willing to remain patient and wait for the current loan window as top-flight clubs shook up their squads during January.
Brown could now be in line for his debut in the top-of-the-table clash with Dundee United on Friday after training with his new Raith team-mates for the first time on Sunday.
Murray told Courier Sport: “James has got good experience and has played quite a lot of games in the Premiership, which is great. He’s at a really good age at 26 as well.
“He is another option that came up and we decided it was a good move for us.
“It’s a really good move for him as well. We just need to get him up to speed a little bit and get him into the group.
“But he has been training, he’s just not had many games since he last played for St Johnstone.
Opportunity at Raith
“So, we’ll look at him in training this week and we’ve got a full week to work with him before the Dundee United game.
“You know what it’s like, new managers come into clubs and just fancy someone different.
“It looks like that’s maybe happened with James at St Johnstone.
“So, it gives him an opportunity to come into Raith and try to do well and help the team.”
Murray added: “He’s just another really good, experienced signing. He’s a player from the Premiership. It’s not as if we’re taking a young player and having a gamble on it.
“He’s one that we liked and I’m really glad to get it done.
“He was pretty keen to come as well, which is always helpful. So, it wasn’t a hard negotiation; we managed to get it done in 48 hours.
“It’s good to get working with him.”
At times this season, Raith have been left threadbare in defence due to injuries, with Keith Watson having only just returned from over four months out with a knee injury.
Euan Murray has also spent time on the sidelines with shoulder and groin problems, meaning skipper Scott Brown has been forced to fill in at the heart of the back line.
Comfortable
However, they currently have a clean bill of health and Brown now added to the squad.
So, Murray is hopeful his selection woes are now in the past as Rovers seek to revitalise their title challenge.
He added: “The window closed on the first of this month. But that really affects Premiership teams more than it really affect us and League One and Two.
“So, we were always quite comfortable.
“Things change. A lot of these teams are looking and waiting to see who they bring in and who they can let go out.
“So, we’re kind of down the food chain a little bit, so we just have to wait. James was one who came up and we’ve acted pretty quickly on it.
“It’s short-term now. We’re into that part of the season where we’ve added some really good quality players and it gives us competition for places.
“The bottom line is we’ve got 14 games to go now. We need to try to win as many of them as we can.
“To do that in this league you tend to need a pretty decent squad.”
