Shrewsbury Town send scouts to Scotland

Town recently appointed a full-time recruitment administrator, Adam Henshall, to oversee up to 25 talent spotters working all over Britain, Ireland and Europe.

And through new chief executive Brian Caldwell's extensive contacts north of the border, following his near two decades at St Mirren and Ayr United, there is a belief that Town can attract ambitious players.

That would continue a club history of recruiting from Scotland over several decades with players such as Sammy Irvine, Jake King, Victor Kasule, John McGinlay, Dougie Bell and Steve Kerrigan.

Caldwell said: "We're trying to cover more games in Scotland through my contacts to see if there are players who fit the bill and would be interested in coming to play in League One.

"If you take out Glasgow Celtic and Rangers, who are on a different planet, Scottish Premier League wage bills are quite similar to League One here or they're a bit less here than some clubs in Scotland.

"A lot of players in Scotland are keen to play in England. If there's an opportunity to put themselves in the shop window – whether it's with Shrewsbury Town or someone else – players will jump at that it.

"They think it's a stepping stone to the Championship or beyond. There are a lot of talented players in Scotland who could definitely play at this level."

Mellon has recently recruited two young Scots on loan in Fulham right-back Jack Grimmer and Wigan centre-back Jack Hendry.

But he revealed the network extends further than his home nation, adding: "We have a massive directory of players and a big scouting system.

"It covers an awful lot of games every week, certainly in the two years I've been here. Now we've got young Adam fronting that up.

"Every weekend we can have 10-15 guys watching games for us – we've got people in Spain, Scotland, England and Wales and we're just starting to look in Ireland.

"It's important the club works really hard at recruitment, because of the transient past of a lot of players who have moved through here."

Mellon is grateful to the support of chairman Roland Wycherley for allowing him to expand the network.

He said: "We have a good system here now and it's something the chairman has really backed me on. He's allowed me to bring in Adam and he's going to help me put it all together.

"It's very important we cover reserve games, Under-21 games, youth team games, league matches from all over the country – so if we need a player, we've got good options."

Caldwell added: "We're trying to spread the net."