Tommy McDermott: What can Shrewsbury expect from their new loanee?
Shrewsbury Town have made their eighth signing of the window with the arrival of Tommy McDermott from Burnley.
The highly regarded youngster is just the second player to arrive at the Croud Meadow on a temporary basis after Elyh Harrison joined from Manchester United.
The youngster has not played a great deal of football in his short career so far. He has played six senior league games as well as featuring seven times in cup competitions for his various clubs, which include Port Vale, Rochdale and most recently, Burnley.
The Town head coach has got a variety of different options in the centre of the park, and the boss spoke about what McDermott is going to offer him over the course of the season.
Appleton said: "He's certainly all action. He brings a good balance. We've got Sam Clucas in the group as a lefty playing in the middle of the park, which helps you.
"Tommy's the same, he gives you a bit of everything to be honest with you.
"He can dribble with a ball, he's a good passer of the ball, but he can get goals as well. He's certainly known for goals and assists from the middle of the park, so he is all action. I think he's a player that the fans will love really.
“He will probably have to temper his enthusiasm now and again, it's probably the best way to put it, because he's got that sort of mean streak in him.
"But as long as we channel that in the right direction, I think the fans will enjoy him.”
Town have had a challenging start to their League Two season. They drew on the opening day, but more recently they were thrashed at Tranmere 4-0 by a side who finished 20th in the division last time out.
Appleton broke it down simply at the weekend. He said it was either his fault for picking the wrong team or the players' fault for not performing.
One of the only positives was the boss revealing in his press conference that they were close to another addition, which turned out to be McDermott.
The 20-year-old is someone they have been after for a while, and they leaned on former chief executive Matt Williams, who is now at Burnley, to help get the deal done.
"I do know his agent,” Appleton said when he explained how the singing came about. “I've known his agent for a while. Obviously, with Matt Williams being at Burnley, the relationship with him and the football club, because he was chief executive here.
"I think over probably a number of weeks now, seven, eight weeks, there's been sort of the odd discussion about potential availability and last week it was made clear that he was going to be let out, so we jumped at the opportunity.”
Shrewsbury are next in action when they welcome Colchester United to the Croud Meadow this weekend. They will still be searching for their first league victory.
