Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Simpson has hailed his class of 2009-10 for turning the big-money summer departure of Grant Holt into a positive.

Many Town supporters feared hopes of a successful campaign were severely dented when Holt, who scored 28 goals last term, was sold to Norwich City for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £500,000.

But Town have kicked on well without last season’s star man, the rebuilt squad going into this afternoon’s game at Morecambe in fifth place and with the chance to win a fifth successive League game for the first time in 14 years.

“There is a better spread of players who are coming to the fore (this season) and showing what they are all about,” said Simpson.

“With a character like Grant, everybody takes a little bit of a step back and allows him to be the leader.

“The type of character Grant is, he is a leader and he doesn’t actually care if anybody follows him.

“He just does his own thing and gets on with it, which is brilliant when he is getting 28 goals.

“This season we have got a good spirit and probably a better team ethic.

“I don’t want it to sound as though I’m slagging Grant Holt off because that’s not what I’m doing.

“But it has changed the blend of what we have got and, in a way, it has maybe even changed the mental thought patterns of the players.

“Everybody is prepared to do that extra little bit and we have definitely got a better team ethic than we had last season.”

With Dave Hibbert on a scintillating run of scoring form and forming an excellent partnership with Jake Robinson, Simpson even hinted that Holt would struggle to currently break into Town’s team.

“Where would he get in at the moment?” asked Simpson.

“We are scoring goals from all over the park.

“We are always going to miss somebody like Grant Holt and the other lads who left but, as is football, you have to learn to move on and we have done – and I’m delighted with how it is going at the moment.”