Callum Stewart on Shrewsbury Town goals, learning from John Marquis and new faces

Stewart, who joined the Shrews from Leamington in January, played 45 minutes against his former club in a 2-0 win at the New Windmill Ground on Saturday.

The 23-year-old netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over Stoke in Shrewsbury's pre-season opener, which was behind-closed-doors, and is looking to add more goals under his belt before the start of the season.

"It was nice to get off the mark. It was nice to get my first goal and I'm just looking forward to getting my first in the league now," he told the club.

'I'm looking forward to getting my first in the league now'

"Hopefully in the first game of the season I can get it under my belt. Hopefully I can get a couple more goals [during pre-season] to give me a little bit more confidence so there's no excuses for that first game of the season. 

"We can get off the mark really well and set the standard for the rest of the season." 

The Leamington-born frontman propelled himself on to the Shrews' radar with an astonishing 14 goals in 23 games for his hometown club during the first half of last season. 

He featured 15 times in League One for Shrewsbury following his winter arrival and started the final three games of the season under Michael Appleton. 

Stewart registered his first league assist for John Marquis' winner at Barnsley in the penultimate game of last term and has featured alongside him in both pre-season games. 

33-year-old Marquis finished as the Shrews' leading scorer with 11 goals during his debut campaign at Croud Meadow and Stewart feels he can learn a lot alongside him in attack.

'I can learn a lot from John Marquis'

"I can learn a lot from him. He has scored loads of goals and I've played with him again at Stoke and Leamington," he observed.

"It's good trying to build that connection but he's a good player. He's captain and a leader as well, and you just learn subconsciously from him in terms of his movement." 

Michael Appleton has had a busy first summer in Shropshire, bringing in five new faces and letting nine more head for the exit door. 

Shrewsbury have bolstered their back-line with the arrivals of Sam Stubbs, Tom Anderson and Will Boyle, while Tom Sang offers a versatile option across the pitch. 

34-year-old Sam Clucas has also injected vital experience into the squad having played for the likes of Hull City and Swansea City in the Premier League. 

And Stewart believes that the summer recruits have bedded in well and add value both on and off the pitch.

"They've all settled in really well. Some really good lads, they've actually added off the pitch as well as on it," he added.

"You can see on the pitch that we've signed some very good leaders and you can see that off the pitch by the standards they set."