In the space of two hours on Thursday afternoon, the Burton Albion midfield received a timely - and exciting - boost.
Before Scott Fraser signed on the dotted line of a two-year contract at the Pirelli Stadium, the Brewers' central midfield ranks were looking notably depleted.
Luke Murphy and Jacob Davenport had long since returned to their parent clubs, with Davenport moving to Blackburn Rovers on a permanent basis.
Tom Naylor, a trusty midfield performer for much of his Albion career, had joined Portsmouth, while Hope Akpan had decided to turn down Burton's contract offer to join Bradford City on Wednesday.
Albion's numbers were always going to be smaller in League One - but it left Jamie Allen and Matty Lund as the only recognised central midfielders with a League start to their name at the club, with Ben Fox, Joe Sbarra and Lucas Akins as other options there.
That midfield has received a huge fillip in the form of Fraser.
The 23-year-old, who left Dundee United at the end of last season - after scoring six goals in 32 appearances in 2017-18 - is rated highly in Scottish football.
Only last summer, after a pre-season friendly against Blackpool, then-United boss Ray McKinnon suggested "he has the best ability in Scotland".
Brewers' Double Signing
"He has the potential to do anything he wants in the game - it's up to him now," McKinnon added in an interview with the Scottish Sun.
It is that potential that Nigel Clough was keen to get on board, with the player himself talking about being keen to develop as a player and push onto the next level.
It remains to be seen what system Burton play with in League One, but Fraser is likely to be used as a front-foot player in midfield.
He is at his best when going forward and with the ball at his feet, according to Tom Duthie at the Evening Telegraph in Dundee.
"He likes to take players on - although he's a midfielder, he really plays just off the striker," said Duthie.
"He can play a 40-yard pass, but he is quite happy to take the ball in the final third or in tight areas, play passes through the defence for the striker or take it on himself."
Fraser seems a different type of midfielder for Albion.
He may not be the box-to-box player that Naylor and fellow Scottish Premiership graduate Jackson Irvine were, although he has apparently improved his work rate off the ball more recently.
He is also unlikely to sit deep and pull the strings, as Davenport, Allen and Matt Palmer have in Albion shirts over recent seasons.
His signing perhaps points to the way Burton will look to dominate sides when possible next season, with an attack-minded midfielder in their ranks.
Like Irvine and Liam Boyce, two players he has followed in the route from Scottish football to the Pirelli Stadium and name-checked in his first interview after joining, Fraser is looking to make his mark on the English game with this move.
In that sense, it is an exciting transfer for player and club alike.
The same can be said for the arrival of David Templeton, whose signing provides another important addition to the Brewers midfield.
The former Rangers winger will be a valuable asset on either flank or in behind the striker.
It is not an area in which the Brewers lack particular depth, with Akins, Marvin Sordell, Sbarra, Will Miller and Marcus Harness all boasting game time in that position.
But the future of Lloyd Dyer, Albion's most effective winger of the past two seasons, is still up in the air, with the ex-Leicester City man yet to sign a new contract.
And Templeton brings with him genuine experience and quality, as well as a proven goalscoring record from those positions, cutting in with great effect.
Again, how Templeton slots into Clough's team will be dependent on their system.
His pace and guile will be valuable in whatever formation they use, though, and he is another player who has spoken of his ambition to prove himself in the English game.
"There's good players up north, and I think most players that have come down have always done well," said the 29-year-old after signing a two-year deal on Thursday.
"Jackson Irvine did really well here, he scored a fair few goals.
"If it keeps working, I'm sure the gaffer will keep using that avenue."
Clough has regularly utilised the Scottish market to sign quality players who have perhaps gone unnoticed or have been underrated in England.
Irvine and Boyce are the Albion examples, and Craig Bryson and Johnny Russell have enjoyed successful spells at Derby County after being signed by Clough from the Scottish Premiership.
Fraser and Templeton are the latest ones.
Their role at Burton Albion will be to show exactly why Clough has again looked to Scotland to bolster his Brewers squad for a positive campaign in League One.
