Fraserburgh boss Cowie hoping to get Cove’s Campbell on extended loan

Fraserburgh boss Mark Cowie has revealed they are in talks with Cove Rangers about extending Grant Campbell’s loan deal.

The midfielder, who can also cover right-back, joined the Broch from the League Two leaders in September and his loan is up this month.

Campbell has been an important player for the Buchan side, helping them to win the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup, reach the Aberdeenshire Shield final and sit third in the Highland League.

Fellow midfielder Ross Willox arrived at Bellslea at the same time on a temporary deal from Peterhead.

His loan has already been extended until the end of January and may yet be increased to the end of the season.

Gaffer Cowie is hopeful Campbell’s loan can also be extended and said: “Grant and Ross have both been good loan signings for us so it would be good to get their time here extended.

“With Grant, we know we need Cove to help us out and Peterhead have helped us out a bit already by extending Ross’ deal to the end of January. It’s understandable because Jim McInally will be looking to reassess his squad in January.

“He might make additions or he might lose players so he’ll have to reassess and see if he needs Ross until the end of the season or if he can stay with us.

“But we’ll sort that out when the time comes. We’re in discussions with the guys at Cove about Grant so we’ll see what happens.”

Other than trying to keep Campbell and Willox for the rest of the season, Cowie doesn’t anticipate Fraserburgh doing more business in January.

When asked if there are likely to be any more comings or goings at Bellslea, Cowie added: “I wouldn’t expect so because we have a pretty strong squad.

“We have players on loan to other Highland League clubs that we could recall if we really need to.”

Cowie is pleased with the strength in depth within his squad, particularly in the forward areas.

Gary Harris returned from 18 months out injured to score the fourth in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Turriff United.

But he faces plenty of competition for a place in the side with Scott Barbour, Paul Campbell, Sean Butcher, Aidan Combe and Andrew Hannar all impressing in attack this term.

Club captain Willie West has also been deployed up front on occasion and Cowie said: “We’ve got good threats and we’ve got a good mix of strikers.

“We’ve got pace, we’ve got guys who can hold the ball in, we’ve got target men and guys who are good in the air.

“There is a good blend of player and it’s just about finding the combination that is right for the team in certain games.

“In some games we’ll need certain players and in some games we’ll need others. All those players will feature between now and the end of the season and they all know how much I rate them.

“But at the same time I don’t want to discount our defensive players because Willie West and Jamie Beagrie played centre-back on Saturday and I thought they were immense.

“With Paul Leask behind them in goal, they were very assured.

“We’ve got a good balance to the squad and we have plenty of home games this month so hopefully we can kick on and build some momentum.”