Raith Rovers have freed up room in Barry Robson’s January transfer budget with the departure of three players.
The Stark’s Park outfit have announced that defender Fankaty Dabo and forwards Lewis Jamieson and Cody David have all left the club.
Dabo and David both had short-term deals expiring this week and they will not be extended.
Dabo, the former Chelsea and Coventry City full-back, is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and it is understood he was offered the chance to continue his rehabilitation at the Kirkcaldy club.
However, with Kieran Freeman and the arrival this month of Jordan Doherty, who made his debut against Ayr United in Robson’s debut match in charge, Raith are well covered at right-back.
Meanwhile, despite initially penning a season-long loan from St Mirren, Jamieson has returned to his parent club after the agreement was cut short.
The 22-year-old, recruited in August when Rovers were without a manager, scored three times in 18 appearances for Raith.
But he never really held down a fixed position in the starting line-up and was substituted at half-time in Robson’s Rovers bow.
He could now be set to join back up with previous boss Neill Collins at new club Sacramento Republic in the United States.
All three exits allow for Robson to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited from predecessor Collins.
January transfer window: Short in attack
However, with Callum Smith out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury and Lewis Vaughan not expected back in action for at least a couple of weeks following hamstring surgery, it leaves Robson short of options in attack.
David, the former Everton youngster, only arrived in October and took some time to reach match fitness.
He scored his only goal for the club in the Fife derby victory over Dunfermline last month and had impressed at times with his pace and physicality.
But the onus will now be on Robson and technical director John Potter to find replacements for both David and Jamieson up front.
“I want to make sure that the players that we are recruiting are going to help,” Robson told Courier Sport.
“Sometimes it is just for the short-term, but the majority is to try and help long-term. We’re not just going to jump into things.
“The squad I want to build here will be a squad that can be a long-term squad who have got good age about them, who have got that physicality, who can handle playing for a big club, who have got the mentality to want to work and build a successful team.
“You don’t do that when you come in the door and say, ‘I’m going to sign that, that, that’.
“We all know that this window is not the perfect window to get the perfect player that you want to try and build for the future.
“But if we can do one or two little things that we think can help us to get us through, we will.”
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