Stefan Payne completes Shrewsbury Town return on loan from Bristol Rovers

Payne left Montgomery Waters Meadow in the summer for League One rivals Rovers for a fee believed to be in excess of £250,000.

The 27-year-old has netted three times in 28 games in all competitions but has found league football hard to come by in recent weeks.

He scored 16 goals across loan and permanent spells in Shropshire between January 2017 and summer 2018.

He netted from the penalty spot at Shrewsbury in a 1-1 draw in September and refused to celebrate.

“We have brought Stefan Payne back to the club.” Sam Ricketts said.

“He did fantastic last year."

“We are delighted to have him back in for his personality, his work ethic and his goals – let’s not forget that.

“He knows the club and was really keen to come back. Hopefully he can come back and start from where he left off.

“Ideally this is the way forward now, we want to bring players in who will improve the quality of the squad and with that the team.”

The striker was Town's top scorer with 14 goals as Salop finished third in League One and lost in the play-off final at Wembley.

Town boss Sam Ricketts is looking for extra firepower to help ease the burden on 14-goal top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie and another striker could follow Payne into the Meadow on a busy deadline day.

Payne is determined to kickstart his season after re-signing at his former club.

“I am buzzing to be back,” said Payne. “It’s familiar surroundings and there are a lot of people here from when I left.

“It’s good to be back and hopefully I can get going. There has been a bit of change with the gaffer and a few of the players.

“The majority of the staff and the players are still here so it’s easy for me to bed in.

“This is just a good club really and I’ll be able to bed in easier. I just want to get on with it now. I want to start my season off by scoring more goals."