Shrewsbury agree to bring in defender Gerrard
Shrewsbury Town have agreed to sign centre-back Anthony Gerrard – but Micky Mellon warned he could be weeks away from playing.
The news comes as Zak Whitbread stands by for his full debut at home to Bury tomorrow with Nathaniel Knight-Percival struggling with a groin injury.
Free agent Gerrard, 29, has been training at the Greenhous Meadow for two weeks and both parties have reached agreement on terms.
Gerrard, the younger cousin of former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard, becomes the third 'freebie' to sign for Town in the last month after Ian Black and Whitbread.
"We have an agreement so, when he's fit, he'll be available to us," said Mellon.
"Anthony still has a bit of training to do before he's there. But when he's ready, he'll be an important player for us."
Gerrard missed pre-season training following his release from Huddersfield after finishing last campaign with a six-match loan spell at Oldham. But the Everton academy graduate has a good pedigree, with 355 League appearances for Walsall, Cardiff, Hull and the Terriers, including many in the Championship.
Mellon warned fans will have to be patient to see him play.
"I'm loathe to speak about it because it could be weeks away and he could pick up a hamstring injury like Ian Black has now," he said.
"Anthony's not ready. He hasn't done anything for a long time so I wouldn't get carried away saying 'he's imminently available'.
"Or it might be a situation where we've just got to go for it to gauge his levels.
"He's working his socks off but I've got to be careful to only put people in when they're ready or I think they're going to make a positive impact.
"But we love having him round the club. He's a good talker, a winner and a guy of high standards, so he's helping in that way already. We know how good he'd be for us and we're working to get him fit."
Mellon is almost certainly without Black (hamstring) for tomorrow after the Scot failed to train yesterday.
