Malky Mackay believes new Ross County signing Ben Purrington is of “real quality” and has joined the Staggies in the prime of his career.

The 26-year-old left-back signed on a two-year deal from Charlton to become the sixth addition to the Highland club’s squad this summer.

Purrington came through the youth ranks at Plymouth and made his debut in 2013 before joining Championship side Rotherham in January 2017.

He joined Charlton in January 2019, initially on loan for the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, before making his move to the Valley permanent in the summer after scoring in the League One play-off final win over Sunderland at Wembley to help the Addicks gain promotion to the Championship.

Purrington joined the County squad at their pre-season training camp in Italy and boss Mackay told County’s official website: “We are delighted to bring somebody of Ben’s experience to Ross County.

“At 26 he is in the prime of his career and has a great track record of games and success behind him.

“We tracked Ben and identified that he was a player of real quality that can add to our group and be one of the more experienced leaders in the dressing room.

“Ben has proven himself at various levels of the game and those experiences will be important to us in what is going to be an extremely competitive Scottish Premiership next season.”