Loan ace Sean Thornton has been given the green light to extend his Shrewsbury Town career – with the blessing of his manager Martin Ling.Thornton has made two appearances for Town since joining on a month’s loan from Leyton Orient, shining on his debut as Gillingham were crushed 7-0.

The former Sunderland man has made no secret of his desire to play at a higher level once again – but Orient boss Ling appears to have virtually written him out of his first team plans.

The midfield maestro has not appeared for the League One outfit since mid-August, and Ling has now paved the way for Shrewsbury to extend the deal if they so wish.

“So far Shrewsbury haven’t been in touch, but if they want him to remain with them I would be more than happy,” said Ling.

“If I’m honest I feel his future is away from the club, but I would never say that Sean won’t play for me again because you don’t know what is going to happen in football.”

Thornton’s next outing in a Town shirt is likely to be in the eagerly-anticipated League Two clash with Bradford City on Saturday.

Club officials are anticipating the highest crowd of the season so far, with Bradford expected to bring around 800 supporters to boost the attendance.

“We’re up to nearly 4,900 at the moment,” said ticket office manager Judy Davies this morning.

“That’s well above what we’d normally have sold at this point and I’d hope we’d be up to at least 6,000 by Saturday.”

Meanwhile, speculation continues to grow that a number of Town players could be in line for a move away from the club in the coming days.

Boss Paul Simpson has confirmed that he has received several enquiries – mainly from non-League clubs – for his out-of-favour players.

Goalkeeper Scott Bevan, who is currently behind loan ace Luke Daniels and Glyn Garner in the pecking order, has been linked with Blue Square Premier club Torquay.

The Gulls are in the market for a new No 1 after seeing Michael Poke suffer a potentially long-term injury in their 2-1 win over Forest Green on Tuesday.

By Chris Hudson