TOWERING young defender Sam Roscoe is looking to make a name for himself with Ayr United, after suffering at their hands on loan to Alloa Athletic last season.

Former Aberdeen ace Sam, who turned 21 on Sunday and is 6ft 5in, admitted boss Ian McCall had worked hard to persuade him to join the club.

He told Ayr United Media:“The gaffer spoke to me over the summer and he was always keen to make a deal happen with Aberdeen to bring me here and the feeling of being wanted by him was a big factor of me coming in. To me this was the place I wanted to come and I spoke to Danny Harvie and he didn’t have a bad word to say about the club.

“I watched them play and they were good at what they did, they were good to watch. We were on the receiving end a few times last season of being beaten by them.

“You can see how Scott McKenna has come on from Ayr, now playing for Scotland and Michael Rose is at Coventry, a big club in England. That’s where we all want to be as footballers, we all want to make the big move . I want to play here every week.

“I’m wanting to come here and play every week

“This is the right club for me to play and improve, hopefully get a good number of games and then go on to the next step.

“ I’m here to be a defender to stop the goals and that’s my priority. If I can help in other ways then I will.

A former Ayr player took him under his wing last season.

He said: “Last season I learned a lot from working with former Ayr player Andy Graham and he was brilliant and a big factor in how well I did. He wants other people to do well.”

Meanwhile it was confirmed on Thursday that midfielder Robbie Crawford was moving on after 11 years.

McCall said: “Robbie came through the Ayr United Football Academy and has played well over 200 first team games.

“We are extremely sorry to see him go and it has been a very tough decision for him. He had several clubs to pick from and it was no surprise there was so much interest in him.

“He is a terrific boy and I firmly believe he is nowhere near the level he can get to yet albeit he has been excellent for us.”

Everyone at Ayr United FC wishes Robbie Crawford well.