Shrewsbury Town today took the wraps off a mouth-watering pre-season programme that will see two Midlands big guns heading to the Prostar Stadium.

Town will welcome West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City to their all-seater stadium for attractive friendlies as boss Paul Simpson prepares his side for a fresh assault on League Two.

The four-match fixture list also includes the visit of AFC Telford United in the much-delayed Shropshire Senior Cup final and a trip to Tranmere Rovers.

The Baggies, newly relegated to the Championship, are due to visit on Wednesday, July 22, in a fixture that could see former loan stars Luke Daniels and David Worrall make an early return to Shropshire.

League One champions Leicester, managed by former Shrewsbury centre-back Nigel Pearson, will then head to the county three days later, on Saturday, July 25.

It is the Telford clash that will start the action though, the Blue Square North outfit making the short trip down the A5 on Saturday, July 18 for a final that should have been played last summer but was postponed because of weather problems.

Town will travel to Tranmere, who agonisingly missed out on the League One play-offs on the last day of the season, on Saturday, August 1.

“I think the West Brom and Leicester games are both attractive ones for our supporters,” said general manager Jon Harris. “They’re well supported clubs and they’re both fairly local so we will hope for good crowds for those.Tranmere away is a magnificent test for us just before the start of the season.

“John McMahon (the assistant manager, who was formerly on the Tranmere coaching staff) was instrumental in getting that game arranged.”

Meanwhile, Harris revealed season ticket sales continued to go well with more than 2,400 now sold – closing in rapidly on last season’s final tally of a little over 2,700.

The early bird offer came to an end earlier in the month, though existing season ticket holders can still renew at the cheaper prices until June 15.

Adults purchasing a first season ticket will now pay £280 for category B seats or £30 for category B seats.

By CHRIS HUDSON