DUNOON’S Lewis Strapp has found his new club after departing Airdrieonians at the end of the season, landing himself a deal at Ross County.
The Staggies suffered a similar fate to the Diamonds as they were also relegated from the Championship to League One, although they went down automatically after a dismal season ensured a second successive relegation.
But Strapp is undeterred and believes despite the club’s recent woes that Stuart Kettlewell can provide the right platform to further his career.
He said: “I’m really happy to be signing for Ross County.
“It was nice to get to the end of the season and have a few options, and I think I picked the right one. I think just the club, where they’ve been, where they can be, and the manager was a big part. He [Stuart Kettlewell] phoned me and was very positive about what he wants to do to the place, how he wants to change things, which got me on board straight away.
“A lot of people who aren’t in football will not understand why I’ve gone to Ross County, they’ll just look at it as you’ve dropped down a league, but if you look at it through my eyes, I see a good plan and a good platform to be able to go and play at a higher level.”
It was a dramatic end to the season for Strapp, as he was sent off in a relegation decider on the last day of the season in which Greenock Morton did enough to fend off Airdrie.
The sending off was contentious, with many debating whether he should have seen red for winning the ball from former teammate Ian Wilson.
On the foul he said: “90% of people knew it wasn’t a red, but it was just unfortunate.
“I gave the ref a decision to make and unfortunately it went against me.”
The Diamonds appealed the decision, allowing Strapp to play in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-final against Alloa Athletic.
However, it didn’t go according to plan, as Airdrie lost the first leg and then the appeal, meaning Strapp had to watch on as his side lost their Championship status in a 2-1 defeat to the Wasps.
He added: “It’s difficult to miss out on a game that’s so massive to the club.
“I was a big part of the club throughout the season, playing games every week, so I was gutted I couldn’t play my part to try and keep us in the league.”
And if things had only been slightly different, both on the last day and throughout the season, Strapp believes his side could have been clear of danger.
He continued: “It was a tough season as a whole, a lot of changes at the start maybe knocked us back – managers leaving, new manager coming in, and it didn’t click and so on – which obviously made it a tough start to the season.
“I think we went three months under Danny Lennon without a win and that’s just not good enough. You saw once Aaron Taylor-Sinclair took over that we really picked up.”
But with his spell at Airdrie behind him, Strapp is keen to make the right impression in the Highlands as he prepares for life in Dingwall for the foreseeable future.
He concluded: “Ambitions for this season are to just get games under my belt.
“I want to play well and cement myself in the team at Ross County and build relationships with the manager, all the players up there and hopefully settle in there.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for me and I’m happy with the decision I’ve made.”
