Ian Murray has claimed Lee Ashcroft turned down more money on offer elsewhere to sign for Raith Rovers for ‘football reasons’.
The Dundee defender has joined the Kirkcaldy title challengers on loan for the remainder of the campaign in a further boost following last Friday’s 2-1 victory over Dundee United.
It is known that Fife foes Dunfermline were amongst the clubs also eager to sign the experienced former Kilmarnock stopper.
But the 30-year-old turned down the chance to join his old side, where he spent four years before joining Dundee.
And Murray is thrilled that yet another player who was also being chased by Championship rivals has been enticed to Stark’s Park to join a side now just a point off the top of the table.
Ashcroft’s Dundee team-mates Shaun Byrne and Zak Rudden, as well as on-loan Ross County midfielder Kyle Turner were all in demand before joining Rovers.
Murray told Courier Sport: “Lee’s a player we looked at in the summer, but he wasn’t available. To get him, finally, is great.
“We had to be patient with it, even over the January window, when he was playing for Dundee up until a couple of weeks ago because of their situation.
“But I’m delighted to get him in.
Ashcroft has ‘bags of experience’
“[Technical director] John Potter worked really hard on it, especially over the last three or four weeks.
“Lee’s got experience of winning this league and he’s got really good defensive attributes; he’s an out-and-out centre-half. There’s no messing about with him, that’s his position.
“And he’s done really well this season when he has played for Dundee, so we’re very happy to get him in.
“He’s got bags of experience, which is brilliant for us.”
Raith have been accused by some of ‘throwing money’ at their Championship tilt, but Murray is adamant that is not the case.
He added: “This was probably the hardest one, in terms of finances.
“I don’t want to talk too much out of turn but we weren’t the team offering him the most money, put it that way.
“Far from it, actually.
“So, it came down to him wanting to come here, which is great.
“Loan deals are not as easy as people think. Ashy [Ashcroft] has got another year at Dundee, on decent Premiership money as well.
‘A purely football decision’
“So, he had to think about the short-term future for himself, and that leading into the medium and longer-term.
“He’s based that on a purely football decision, which is really, really good.
“We had to obviously fight a few teams off for his signature, because probably everybody in the league would have liked to have signed him if they could.
“So, I’m delighted he chose us – and again we’ve kept well within our constraints, which is testament to the board and John [Potter].”
Having played 13 games for Dundee this season, including seven in the space of three weeks following the Premiership winter break, Ashcroft is fit and ready for his debut.
Whether that comes on Saturday away to Ayr United or against Morton on Tuesday as Raith face three games in the space of just six days, remains to be seen.
Another whose selection against Ayr is in doubt is midfielder Shaun Byrne, who was left dazed by a head knock in the victory over United.
Murray explained: “We’ll assess Shaun. He’s been a bit groggy this week.
“It was nothing crazy, just an accident. We watched it back and he was completely unlucky.
“But he took a real sore one.
“You’ve just got to keep checking these things, especially when it comes to head injuries.”
