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Ross County received a massive boost yesterday when talented French midfielder Karim Boukraa re-signed for the Dingwall club.
Boukraa has been back in his native country for a holiday and was being tracked by several French clubs.
County boss Neale Cooper was delighted to fight off the competition to keep him in the Highlands.
Cooper said: "I'm delighted Karim has signed a new 12-month contract. I'm sure the fans will also think it's brilliant news as he has become a firm favourite with them.
"It's important that Karim gets a full pre-season under his belt this year as there were occasions last term when we had to take him off late in a game as he was tired.
"However, on his day he's one of the First Division's classiest players and can hurt teams, especially when he runs at them with the ball at his feet. Karim has a bit of arrogance about him and that's a good thing to have as a player. I did notice that he had made great efforts towards the end of last season to become more of a team player and that too is pleasing."
Boukraa's close control and penetrating midfield runs were a feature of County's success last term, especially during their home Scottish Cup tie against Rangers.
Meanwhile, English goalkeeper Tony Bullock arrived at Victoria Park yesterday to be put through his paces.
Cooper added: "Tony has come highly recommended and we will be having a little look at him in training this week and we're pleased to give him a chance to show what he can do."
County are still seeking a top-class full-time replacement for Nicky Walker and after seven seasons at Barnsley and a season at Macclesfield, the current Lincoln City number one could fit the bill.
Cooper also admitted he is hoping to organise several more friendly matches for next month.
He said: "We're still on the lookout for a couple more pre-season friendlies with Press and Journal Highland League clubs, so if any of the managers are interested they need only give me a call at the club."
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The new season will shortly be under way and Ross County's derby fixture dates with Inverness Caledonian Thistle are the highlights that most fans have been eagerly awaiting.
Ross County are at home against Inverness on September 15, with the corresponding fixture taking place in Inverness on November 17. The festive derby takes place at Victoria Park on January 2, with the final meeting between the two set for Inverness on March 23.
Ross County have been handed a relatively easy start to their campaign, beginning with a home game against newly-promoted Arbroath, followed by a trip to Ayr United and then home matches against Raith Rovers and Airdrie.
Ross County midfielder Steve Ferguson, who has signed a new three-year deal, was delighted that three of his side's first four games are at home.
Ferguson said: "I'm particularly pleased that the opener is at home as our fans will have been starved of football over the summer and will, hopefully, turn out in force for the Arbroath game.
"However, Arbroath have just been promoted and will no doubt be on a high and I'm sure our former teammate John McGlashan will relish the chance to return to Dingwall and show the fans what he can do.
"We'll be looking for a winning start to impress the manager early on and a week later we'll be hoping to avenge the 1-0 score-line we suffered on our debut First Division game at Ayr United last season."
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Ross County have received a boost with the news Argentinian midfielder Martin Prest has signed a new two-year contract with the club.
County manager Neale Cooper signed 22-year-old Prest from Airdrie in March until the end of the season and the player's impressive form has earned him an extended deal at Victoria Park.
Cooper is delighted Prest is staying with the Dingwall club.
He said: "Martin has settled well at the club and I'm sure the fans who saw him against Raith Rovers at the end of the season will be glad to know he is staying, as he was unbelievable on the day.
"I had been chasing Martin on a number of occasions last season because he had been very impressive every time I'd watched him in a First Division game.
"If he can find a bit of consistency in his game then I am sure he can become a real favourite with our supporters."
Manager Cooper has promised to take his strongest squad to Victoria Park, Buckie, tonight (KO 7.45) for their first pre-season game and goalkeeper Tony Bullock will have his chance to earn a permanent deal with the club.
The County boss said: "We have four or five players struggling with a couple of minor strains and injuries and, obviously, I won't risk them if they are not 100% fit.
"Tony Bullock, who has been with us for pre-season training, has shown up well so far and he will get a run out against Buckie.
"He will play in our games this week and next, and it will be a good test to see him in a match situation.
"I've also brought a 19-year-old French keeper over on trial and he has also done well. It's too early to say what the future holds for him, but a lot will depend on what happens in the next couple of weeks."
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Ross County's goal-scoring options looked stronger than ever after the Dingwall side agreed a one-year deal with Argentinian striker Martin Prest.
The 22-year-old had been seeking a two-year contract, while County had been expecting to offer a shorter-term deal which would have enabled Prest to prove his worth at minimum finacial risk.
But it seems an amicable compromise was reached which sees the promising former Airdrie import commit himself until at least next summer.
Manager Neale Cooper, who had been interested in signing the amiable South American last season, had expressed doubts over a permanent move for Prest after a run of poor performances initially.
However, a scintillating hat-trick against Raith Rovers convinced most in attendance that the youngster was capable of proving something special - abd Cooper certainly seemed content with his new acquisition.
The manager said: "If Martin can attain some consistency in his game, I think he will be a real asset and the supporters will really warm to him.
"He has settled in really well at the club and I am sure that the fans who saw him against Raith at the end of last season will be looking forward to seeing more of the same."
Prest is versatile enough to fill wide roles as well as playing through the middle, and will have competition enough for a first team start.
Now Cooper can call upon Alex Bone, Derek Holmes and new signing Steven Hislop, as well as Prest, to lead his attack.
Other news before the pre-season matches commence: defender David McKay has been unable to train with a knee injury; throat trouble has affected John Fraser; and, ankle injuries to Craig Taggart and Martin Canning were limiting Cooper's choices.
However, the friendly matches could help experienced English goalkeeper Tony Bullock clinch a place in Cooper's plans, along with a role in the County coaching set-up, if he looks a likely replacement for departed Nicky Walker over the past few days.
Cooper stressed: "Tony has looked the part so far, and we just want to see him in action this week and next before anything is finalised."
County have also had a 19-year-old French 'keeper on trial for the past week, with Cooper closely monitoring his progress.
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For Roy McGregor, something far more significant was afoot last Saturday than a Premier League side being rattled by supposedly humbler opponents.
Ross County's injection of youth into the first team, evidenced as only ill-fortune created a losing 2-3 margin against a full-strength Aberdeen, prompted the club chairman to talk of a "coming of age" for the club.
An ambitious shift in philosophy this season will see up to eight or nine teenagers embroiled in First Division action ar various times.
Don Cowie, the son of the former County star of the same name, and the equally impressive Steven McKay played from the start against the Dons, while four other youth team promotees came off the bench during the game.
Manager Neale Cooper and newly-confirmed first team coach Danny McDonald are, by all accounts, thoroughly convinced the quality is there to succeed - and three or four others could become involved.
McGregor views the early promise against a full-strength Dons outfit - notably, in the manager Ebbe Skovdal's final preparatory match before facing Rangers - as the first pay-off from a massive investment.
The expense of ploughing resources into a youth and community development programme has been somewhere in the region of £300,000.
The chairman told The Ross-Shire Journal: "On a personal note, Saturday's game was Ross County coming of age. We have been in the league six years, run a community development programme for four years and a youth development programme, seriously, for two years.
"On Saturday, as we outplayed Aberdeen at times, I had a real tear in my eye. That was the first stage of actually getting youngsters established in the first team.
"There really is a fantastic system in place now and I think this year we are going to reap the benefits of the investment we put in.
"People have been asking when it was going to happen, questionning whether it was going to happen ad asking where their weekly lottery money was going, when they are not seeing anything from it. But I feel that it is happening now and that is the reason I got involved in football in the first place - to give youngsters a chance to get onto that stage.
"So that for me, Saturday was probably the biggest, most pleasing event since I have been involved with football at Ross County."
On a more cautionary note, McGregor is aware that supporters' reaction to the young players could be crucial.
"I hope that supporters, while excited and encouraged by the emergence of these young guys, will be patient with the team because we are talking about a group of 17-year-olds here.
"And although it is great we are producing them, there will obviously be a process of adjustment to life in the First Division."
Young defender Martin Canning enjoyed a highly impressive few games last season before succumbing to poor form in a perfect illustration of how youthful footballers can impress and then lose consistency.
Canning will be better for the experience, and, this season, he and the other young players have the "bridge" of having Danny McDonald, their coach in the youth ranks, working with the first team.
McDOnald knows the temperaments and idiosyncracies of these youngsters inside out and will know when they require resting or are mentally attuned to playing.
McGregor continued: "It really is a healthy situation for the club to see these young players coming through after a lot of hard work.
"There have been times when you wonder if it is going to happen, but I really believe this season we will turn a corner.
"The young players have benefitted from the SPL Under-18 experience and will go out there without fear and mentally strong enough. It really is avindication for what we have being investing in because even I doubted at times that it was going to work. When you rise so quickly from the Third to First division, there is a bigger gap for those players to bridge, but I think that we have done it."
And he added: "Neale Cooper, as manager, has often faced criticism, unfairly I believe, as being the boy who got into the Aberdeen first team aged 16, but who did not give young players at County a chance.
"But he has always said, from day one, that if any young player was good enough, they were going to be in the team. He has seen in training now that some of these boys are ready and good enough. The days of Ross County going and buying have gone - we are now a developing club and that is why I got into football.
"Yes, for three or four years we had to go out and buy our way to the First Division, but if we are going to get into the Premier League it will not be by buying, but because the young players are good enough to get us there."
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