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Ross County will be sporting their new, all-red strip - colours not altogether unfamiliar to boss Neale Cooper - when they wind up their home campaign against Albion Rovers at Victoria Park this afternoon.
At the end of the most successful season in the club's 70-year history, Cooper would like nothing better than sign off with a win against a side which has taken four points off the Third Division champions this season.
Cooper said: "They beat us up here and held us to a 3-3 draw at Cliftonhill last time we met, so it should be an entertaining game for the fans."
County goalkeeper Nicky Walker faces a late fitness test on his injured medial ligament but looks likely to return.
Kenny Gilbert, who has had a magnificent season in the heart of the County midfield, has successfully undergone an operation to his groin. Treatment to his troublesome eye continues.
Neale Cooper could make a sensational move for Hearts dread-locked wing wonder José Quitongo.
The little Angolan international has fallen out-of-favour at Tynecastle and is understood to be one of three or four Premier League players being targeted by Cooper.
Cooper said yesterday that it was too early to mention the names of individual signing targets, but he confirmed that he had spent time last Monday watching the Hearts-Dunfermline match.
Quitongo (25) was a big hit with Hamilton Academicals in the Scottish first and second divisions before being snapped up by Hearts last season.
Born in the Angolan capital Luanda, he first moved to Europe when Portuguese giants Benfica were alerted to his silky skills.
Ironically, he had a spell at Darlington about the same time as Neil Tarrant was battling to make an impact in the reserve team there.
The winger starred against County in this season's tension-packed League Cup encounter which was resolved in a penalty shoot-out, but over the season he has failed to command a regular first team slot.
Quitongo has been used as a luxury player by Jim Jefferies, usually entering the fray late on in the game to try and pick holes in defences. The player, at his best, is thrilling but, like many wingers, can drift in and out of matches all too easily.
At County, he would not only command a first team place but he would also fill the gaps left by the departure of Billy Ferries and Neil Tarrant, who was often utilised by Cooper wide on the left.
Cooper's visit to his former club Dunfermline, who look likely to be relegated to the first division, is less surprising, given his close contacts there. One possible target is Highland-born Hamish French who might fill the vacant player-coach position.
Cooper said: "We are working hard to find the right individuals to enhance our squad for next season. The situation with some players is tricky as contract situations have not yet bee sorted out in some instances.
"But I have in mind three or four definite targets. It is important to spend as much time as possible at clubs all over the country to be aware of which players may be available once all issues are settled in the league campaign."
Billy Ferries flies out to Magaluf today with the rest of the Ross County squad not only to celebrate their Division 3 triumph but to think through his footballing future.
He has already told manager Neale Cooper that due to work commitments his senior career is at an end.
The Tain-based kitchen company director joined the Dingwall side as a 16-year-old. He left to help Elgin City lift the Highland League title in 1990, before returning to his beloved Victoria Park to play his part in County's senior success story.
Ferries, 32, revealed last night that he has already turned down an offer from another Third Division club to continue his football career.
He said: "I feel that I could still certainly play at Division Three standard and I've already turned down an offer from a club in that division.
"I've had approaches from six Highland League clubs and although ideally I'd like to go to Brora Rangers I am talking to others.
"I intend to relax on holiday and consider my options before deciding where my future lies."
Brora Rangers co-manager, Andy MacLeod, is interested in tempting him to Dudgeon Park.
He said: "I'd love Billy to come to Brora. I've spoken to him a couple of times recently - he knows many of our players and committee members and I'll be fighting hard to entice him to Dudgeon Park."
Ross County manager Neale Cooper strengthened his on- and off-the-park teams yesterday when he signed winger Kevin Finlayson from Queen's Park and brought Gordon Chisholm in as assistant boss.
A new role will be found at Victoria Park for part-timer Jim Kelly, assistant to Cooper as County raced to the Division 3 title this season.
Chisholm, who resigned from cash-strapped Clydebank after helping Ian McCall guide the homeless Bankies to First Division safety, played with Hibs, Dundee and Sunderland and was coach at Partick Thistle. He will be Cooper's first full-time assistant at County.
"As well as a strong team on the park we need a strong team off it," Cooper said as he looked towards next season in Division 2.
"Gordon is a pro, who works very hard and he is a major signing for this club.
"When he resigned at Clydebank I jumped in quickly and I have a great feeling about him and myself.
"I believe having Gordon here will free me to become a better manager."
Chisholm said: "After two years worrying about the lack of facilities at Clydebank it was amazing to travel up here and see what has been achieved.
"This is an ambitious club and Neale and the chairman have left me in no doubt that they want to see the club progress."
Kelly will remain at the club in a part-time role. "He has not been sacked or anything like that," said Cooper.
"He has done a great job and he has been told that, but when we are going to have a team with so many full-time players, we need people who have coached at that higher level.
"Jim will still travel with the team and watch other teams for us. His role has still to be finalised."
Both Celtic and Derby County were keeping tabs on Finlayson, but Cooper won the race for his signature after the 19-year-old winger completed a couple of days training at Victoria Park.
Cooper said: "Kevin did very well against us during the season and really impressed on his two-day trial.
"He's a natural winger, an exciting prospect who runs at people and is an excellent crosser of the ball. I see him as an ideal replacement for Billy Ferries."
Finlayson signed a two-year full-time contract and is looking forward to life in the Highlands.
He said: "I'm really delighted to get the chance of full-time football with Ross County.
"The lads made me very welcome up in Dingwall and after chatting to my former teammate at Hampden Ian Maxwell, who has done so well since he moved to Victoria Park, I had no hesitation in signing."
Ross County are closing in on three transfer targets after a spell of intense activity in the search for quality new faces.
Manager Neale Cooper has worked hard to sift through the volume of available players in his quest to find not only the right faces, but those likely to prove value for money.
All indications are that the second division campaign will be strengthened by the arrival of fresh blood before the weekend, or early next week, although no announcements were available as the Ross-shire Journal went to press.
County fans have been heartened and excited by the stated ambition of the club in seeking to attract true quality and it does appear that the resources are in place to secure the signatures of several potential crowd-pullers.
Clubs like Hearts, Dunfermline, Dundee and St Johnstone are all releasing, or finalising the release, of players with experience at the sharp end of Scottish football.
However, Cooper and general manager Alastair Kennedy were playing their cards close to their chest.
Cooper, confirming the expected departure of a string of familiar faces from Victoria Park, stressed that quality was the key issue, but declined to reveal the identities of his targets.
Instead, Cooper took time to wish his deportees well. Billy Herd, Billy Ferries, Willie Furphy, Robbie Williamson, David Matheson and Skillseekers Gary Stewart, David Calder and Gary Ewing were all packing their bags this weekend.
Williamson and Matheson are joining Clachnacuddin while Billy Ferries is considering offers from Brora, Clach and several other Highland League sides.
Billy Herd, who has been working in England for some time, is likely to seek a club in the south, while Furphy, Likewise, has always trained at Albion Rovers.
Kennedy, who has always been involved in player negotiations indicated he was confident that players moving in the opposite direction could be in place by the end of this week or by early next week.
The County squad, meanwhile, set off for a well-earned sunshine holiday in Magaluf.
One of the travelling party, Ferries, will surely be hoping to avoid a repeat of history when he ventures in the vicinity of the swimming pool.
On a previous squad break in Spain, during the Bobbie Wilson era, Ferries found himself the victim of practical jokers who chained up his arms and legs before throwing him in the swimming pool.
The culprits, including several well-known former County players, expected to see the winger loosen his bonds and surface within a few seconds, but eventually they had to dive in and rescue Billy from certain drowning.
What was it County fans used to say about Billy being able to walk on water?
Meanwhile, spare a thought for Neale Cooper. Some unfortunate diary planning has left the County boss unable to join the players on their break.
Neale's wife is away, leaving him with babysitting duties.
The only consolation is that Neale's kids are considerably more mature and less of a handfull than Gary Wood and Kenny Gilbert.
Cooper was last spotted outside the Dingwall swimming pool wearing a sombrero.
Neale Cooper has issued a warning to defender Mark Haro with a summer challenge - lose weight and win a new contract!
Should Haro, who enjoyed a successful season against all the odds, report back to training a stone or two lighter, he will be offered a new part-time deal.
However, Cooper warned: "People have thought I was quite happy with Mark's weight, but that isn't the case. He had a pretty good season but it is no secret he needs to shed a few pounds. He knows it, I know it and the supporters know it too.
"But Mark has the ability to play in the second division and if he can get down to it and lose weight over the summer then he will be in my plans."
The former Montrose centre half was out of the picture early in the season and few who witnessed it will forget the superb performances of Billy Herd and Ian Maxwell against Hearts.
However, Haro has proved he was also up for the task, taking over the role as Herd faded from the first team picture.
Meanwhile, Maxwell, a player who has been watched by a string of bigger clubs since joining County from Queen's Park, could be offered a full-time job.
The player works in the south, but so impressive have his performances been that County are considering negotiating a full-time deal.
Ross County are competing with Dunfermline in an attempt to sign Dundee defender Brian Irvine.
The former Aberdeen and Scotland international looks set to leave Dens Park without signing a new deal after helping Dundee avoid relegation.
Irvine accepts that he probably played his last game for Dundee when he captained them in the 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Sunday.
However, Third Division champions County and relegated Dunfermline are keen to sign him.
Irvine said: "I will never say never in football but I do accept that I will probably be moving again. The manager gave me permission to talk to Ross County and their set-up impressed me. They are a progressive club who are determined to go forward. They are also talking in terms of a three-year contract which offers me extra security. But I am officially not free to speak to clubs until my contract with Dundee runs out at the end of the month and I won't be making any quick decisions."
Irvine has been a stalwart in his two years at Dens Park, but after discussions with Dark Blues boss Jocky Scott Irvine feels that he is not part of Scott's long-term plans.
He said: "I had three discussions with Jocky and I felt he was obliged to make me the offer of a further year because we had finished on such a high at the club. But I also got the impression that I would not have been part of the manager's long-term plans and that I might have been in a position where I was looking for a new club a few months into next season.
"I totally respect the manager and I have to accept this decision. I certainly won't leave Dens Park with any sort of bitterness. I want to thank the Dundee supporters for the two years I have had at the club. I have had tremendous rapport with them and I will never forget it."
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