John McGlynn believes incoming midfielder Blaise Riley-Snow will provide the perfect blend of silk and steel in the Raith Rovers midfield.
The 6ft2in Englishman will join the Fifers along with Stoke City striker Ethan Varian once international clearance is received — and it is hoped that both players could be in the squad to face Livingston in the Premier Sports Cup on Wednesday.
Varian, 18, is already a highly-rated young talent at the Bet365 stadium and has been capped once for Ireland at under-21 level.
Riley-Snow, however, is far more of an unknown quantity for fans in the U.K. after emerging through the ranks with Barnet and Harefield United before turning out for Alicante City FC in Spain.
He won his deal following a fine trial period in Kirkcaldy and McGlynn reckons he will bring a different dimension to the Rovers set-up.
“Blaise has been over in Spain for the last couple of years and was in the lower leagues of England before that,” said McGlynn. “But he has come in and really impressed us.
“He is the profile of what we are looking for with regards to stature, size and ability because we don’t have that type of player in midfield.
“We were never, ever going to get a direct replacement for Regan Hendry so we had to think about what we have with Brad [Spencer], Dylan [Tait] and Ross Matthews and compliment them with some physicality.
“Blaise brings that to us.
“Ethan [Varian] is coming down from Stoke and he is an attacking player who will add to our options in that area.”
“We are in the process of waiting for clearance but both guys will become our players.”
McGlynn added: “We’ll do another deal during the week — a loan deal — and that will give us three more in. Allied with the guys we will get back like Ross Matthews, Frankie Musonda, Tom Lang, we’ll have a right good squad.”
