On-loan Shrewsbury Town striker Stuart Nicholson has made his last appearance in a blue-and-amber shirt after returning to his native Newcastle to address his personal problems.

The 20-year-old has made eight starts and eight substitute appearances for Town since joining on a season-long loan from Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion – but has scored just one goal.

That came in a 2-0 win at home to Accrington Stanley back in September, and failed to act as a springboard for the youngster to really show his worth.

An ongoing situation in his private life has troubled him since soon after he made the switch to Shropshire, and boss Gary Peters has now let him go home to get his head straight.

“We’ve let him go back to Newcastle to sort out personal problems he’s had for a few months,” said Peters.

“He’s got a few things to sort out and we have decided it’s best to let him go now. He’ll go back to West Brom in January.

“There’s no doubt about his ability and we had high hopes for him, but just two weeks into his loan with ourselves this personal situation cropped up and he’s still dealing with it.

“It’s something that’s not helped him and it’s not helped us either.”

Nicholson’s departure leaves Town with just three recognised strikers – Dave Hibbert, Michael Symes and Andy Cooke, who is close to a return from injury.

Peters insists he is happy with his options, but also hinted that there could now be movement during the January transfer window.

“We’ve got Symes and Hibbert, and we’ve got Cookey coming back,” he said.

“Marc Pugh also showed on Saturday that he can do a job there. There’s also a possibility that we could do something in January in that position.”

l The Super Blues Christmas draw will be made at the new stadium on Thursday at 7pm. Supporters are reminded that counterfoils and money can be returned up until 5pm on Thursday.