Shropshire Star

Sam Ricketts expecting Josh Laurent to stay at Shrewsbury Town

Sam Ricketts expects Josh Laurent to remain a Shrewsbury Town player this month.

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The Town midfielder is understood to have admirers in the Championship and is out of contract at the end of the season.

But Shrewsbury do not wish to lose the 24-year-old and want him to sign a new deal. Reading are thought to be interested in a move for the ex-Wigan man but the likes of Cardiff, Stoke, Hull and Huddersfield have also been mentioned.

Asked if he was hopeful of Laurent staying, Ricketts said: “Yes. Josh has done really well and improved this year. That’s good to see.

“Again there has been no contact from anyone in terms of Josh – so I’ll take that as he’s staying here.”

Another Town player linked with a January exit is striker Fejiri Okenabirhie. The striker has not been involved in any of Town’s last four matchday squads.

“Fey’s a player who did incredibly well last season. It hasn’t quite happened for him this season,” Ricketts added.

“We’ve got a number of forward players who are doing well and Fey unfortunately just finds himself out of the reckoning at the moment.

“There’s been no bids or anything for Fey from anyone. But he’s a young player who can score goals and unfortunately he’s missing out at the moment.”

“But I think there’s been a number of other players who have done so (missed out) in parts of the season.”

When asked about whether a move would benefit out-of-favour Okenabirhie, the boss said: “You can only cross that bridge if anyone actually makes an approach for any of your players. You have to weigh up what’s best for the player and the club.”

“Fey will be no different to anyone else, the same as someone playing incredibly well and a bid comes in from a higher league.”

Ricketts and Town are yet to make a move in the January window, although they have lost Wolves loanee Ryan Giles.

“There’s no point signing someone just for the sake of it or because you want to get someone in,” Ricketts said. “You’re better off taking your time and getting it right, if it’s not right it causes more problems than good.

“If the players become available we think can help us and take us forward then we’ll do the business.

“It’s really important we get the right recruitment. We’ve spent a lot of time turning the squad around, we don’t want to sign three or four on a whim to change it all round again.”