Michael Appleton makes Josh Ruffels claim after Shrewsbury Town land former Championship defender following lengthy pursuit

The 31-year-old former Coventry, Oxford United and Huddersfield left back finally joined Salop on Friday - having been training with the club in recent weeks after leaving the Terriers in the summer.

The defender, who can play in a number of other positions at the back and in midfield, has attracted the interest of a number of clubs during the summer, including Salop.

Ruffels played a number of games under Appleton during their time at Oxford - and the Salop boss has been public in wanting to bring the defender in at the Croud Meadow.

He has finally got his man - and Appleton has explained that he did not think they would be able to land someone of Ruffels' quality - with the defender having spent a number of seasons in the Championship.

Appleton also stated that after weeks of patience and waiting for an answer he was delighted to get the deal over the line.

He said: "He will bring a lot of quality, know doubt about that.

"He is versatile and can play in numerous positions, and one of the biggest words I can use for him is reliable.

"You know exactly what you are going to get with him, he is very reliable, a great character off the pitch, comes in and does his work.

"He is someone I have worked for a long time at Oxford and we are delighted, because some of his quality, I didn't expect us to be able to get.

"I would like to think the relationship I have with him helped, he knows me and how we do things.

"We have been good to him, he has been in for a few weeks with the players and it got to the point where it was almost, you know what or get off the pot.

"We needed a decision, we were patient enough and we had a laugh about it, a frank conversation and we were lucky enough to get it over the line."