Shrewsbury Town launch an eagerly-anticipated campaign at home to Macclesfield tomorrow with boss Paul Simpson pledging to make them the great entertainers of League Two.

The Town chief has embarked on a summer spending spree unparalleled in the history of the club – and that has inevitably seen expectation levels sky-rocket amongst supporters.

Record £170,000 signing Grant Holt has already been installed as the bookies’ favourite in the race for the golden boot, while several other big name recruits have added a steely line of experience through the spine of his team.

Simpson has steered clear of making any bold predictions of where Shrewsbury will finish – but is determined to repay his chairman Roland Wycherley with a team to make him proud.

“I don’t know what happened with the chairman this summer – whether there was a change in the weather or in the wind direction – but he just came in one day and said he wanted to have a team out there that people wanted to see and he wanted to enjoy his football,” he revealed.

“For me, that’s excellent because when I first took the job that sort of backing wasn’t on the table for me.

“There comes pressure with the fact that I’ve been allowed to bring in eight quality players, but I’d rather have that pressure than be scrapping around at the bottom of the table.

“My aim is to win tomorrow and then to win again on Tuesday (against Carlisle in the Carling Cup).

“I won’t make any bold predictions that gives people a stick to beat me with if we don’t make it.

“But what I would say is that I’m really confident with the squad we’ve got that it will be a really good season.

“I want it to be a good season for everybody, and especially for the chairman who has invested so much in this football club.”

Simpson has been hit by one eve-of-season setback, with midfielder David Hunt suffering a knee ligament strain in training yesterday.

That will sideline him for four to five days, so ruling him out of the opener against the Silkmen.

“It’s a disappointment for David as he’s played the second most minutes of any player during the pre-season games and been involved a lot,” said Simpson.

By Chris Hudson