Exclusive: Gareth Ainsworth & Dino Maamria into contention for Shrewsbury Town vacancy

And the Shropshire Star understands that Ainsworth and Maamria are both candidates in the mix for the vacancy. 

Ainsworth, who most recently was in charge of Queens Park Rangers, would be quite the coup for Salop. 

The 51-year-old spent more than 10 years as manager of Wycombe Wanderers taking them from League Two all the way to the Championship. 

But he left The Chairboys in February 2023 to take over Championship club QPR - a team he played for more than 100 times. 

Maamira also has success in League One. The Tunisian was assistant to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the Pirelli Stadium until the Dutchman was sacked in September 2022. 

Maamria then took over after Burton took one point from their first eight league games. 

The 53-year-old won two of his first four games in charge and helped get The Brewers on the right path - which ultimately led to survival. 

Maamria has also managed Stevenage and Oldham. Salop have been looking for a new boss all week after a run of two wins in 19 games across all competitions led to the Town board making the decision to part ways with Hurst and his assistant Chris Doig.

According to reports, former Barrow boss Pete Wild applied for the job and was keen on taking the vacancy in Shropshire.

Those same reports then revealed he was out of the running to take over from Hurst. 

The Shropshire Star reported this week Salop are looking for someone with League One experience, preferably, in relegation battles. 

Last weekend chairman Roland Wycherley released a statement confirming Town were in advanced negotiations with a party over a takeover of the club. 

The chairman of almost 30 years has been looking for succession for some time now and ideally they would like to bring in a replacement head coach on a short-term deal. 

Salop have a huge relegation six-pointer against Burton this weekend when they are back in League One action.