Anxious Simpson can't make room

Boss Paul Simpson has been frustrated in his efforts to trim his Shrewsbury Town squad - with little interest being shown in his misfits.Simpson is anxious to move several players on after a disappointing season at Oteley Road that saw Town finish down in 18th place in League Two.

He only had four players out of contract at the end of the campaign, so any further cuts will have to be made by finding clubs interested in snapping up his unwanted troops.

But, despite several phone calls and discussions, no-one has yet followed up with any firm offers.

"It's very hard to move players on," he said. "There have been a few inquiries but nobody has come back to me and said they'll definitely take someone.

"You get managers who phone up and ask what the situation is and it's basically a case of keeping in touch with them.

"I think that if anyone is going to go, it will probably be in the last week of June or the first week of July.

"We're all in the same boat as no-one wants to take a player on now and have to pay for them through the summer for nothing.

"You tend to see a surge just before pre-season starts and I'm hopeful that things will start to happen then."

Meanwhile, Simpson has made some changes to his backroom team - with a new physio and kit man being appointed.

Nathan Ring has been promoted from youth team duties to take over as first team physio, while Pete Downward has returned for a second spell as kit man.

Ring replaces Joe Hinnigan as physio, with Simpson declaring: "He's impressed me during my time here, he has the qualifications I wanted and he's very keen to make himself better."

Supporter Downward was appointed by former boss Gary Peters but left after a year to be replaced by Ryan King, son of ex-Town manager Jake.

But Simpson has brought Downward back to resume what he believes is one of the key roles at the club behind the scenes.

By Chris Hudson