Shrewsbury Town: Michael Appleton discusses transfer ‘setback’ and the possibility of new faces
Michael Appleton says Shrewsbury Town have had a small 'setback' with the arrival of their sixth signing of the summer, but he is hopeful it can be done next week.
The Salop head coach had hoped to get a player through the door by the early part of this week, but as of yet, that has not materialised.
Shrewsbury have made five signings already this summer, and are in decent form, having won all three of their pre-season friendlies so far - including Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over county rivals AFC Telford United.
But the main event for Salop is August 2, when they welcome Bromley to the Croud Meadow for their opening game of the League Two season, and they should have another addition by then.
Appleton said: "I was hoping that we'd have a new one by Tuesday evening to be fair, at the weekend.
"But there's been a little bit of a setback, not in terms of whether the player's going to come or not, just more in terms of the opportunity for him to come.
"So, potentially by the end of the week, but probably more like the start of next week, before we see him.”
Shrewsbury have just over two weeks to make any final alterations to their squad ahead of the new season.
One of the areas where it simply has to happen is in goal. Toby Savin has played most of every pre-season friendly so far in the absence of a back-up keeper.
And Appleton says getting a couple of extra players in before that game against Bromley will add ‘better balance’.
He continued: "It's like anything, I suppose, where a lot of the time finances can dictate things, but in terms of numbers, we're still a couple of places down.
"You saw on Tuesday that we've had a lot of kids involved to try and make sure that we protect the minutes of the senior players, so they get that gradual build-up before the season starts.
"So, with one or two new faces possibly coming in before the start of the season, that would allow us to have a better balance in terms of giving players a rest and giving players the minutes when they need them. And we're hopeful of that."
