Ben Purrington left Charlton Athletic at the end of his contract this summer and joined Ross County, of the Scottish Premiership, on a two-year deal.

The 26-year-old scored nine goals from 115 appearances for the Addicks, including an important equaliser at Wembley Stadium as Charlton came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 in the 2018/19 League One play-off final.

The Staggies finished sixth last season and will be aiming to replicate or better that achievement under Malky Mackay, but they have got off to a rocky start to 2022/23.

One win, one draw and four losses from their opening six has County in tenth, ahead of a trip to ninth placed St Johnstone on Saturday.

Purrington has started all six league outings at left back, being substituted once and he picked up a yellow card in the side's opening game defeat at Heart of Midlothian.

Purrington also started all five of the Staggies' Scottish League Cup encounters, before a 4-1 loss to Celtic saw them depart the competition at the round of 16 stage.

The former Rotherham United defender opened his account for Ross County in a 7-0 win over East Fife.

EFL followers may also be familiar with Alex Iacovitti and Jack Baldwin, who Purrington has been playing alongside in a back four, and the more attacking options of Yan Dhanda, Josh Sims, Owura Edwards and Jordy Hiwula who are establishing themselves in the Staggies' first team.

Purrington will be 28 by the end of his deal at Ross County, not too old for him to have another crack at the EFL if this spell in Scotland is successful, although it feels unlikely that the Exeter-born full back will be playing as high as the Championship anytime soon.

The Staggies should be able to recover from their slow start in the coming weeks to target a top six finish for the second season in a row.