Shrewsbury’s players of the season – so far

As of this time we are in the dark about whether Shrewsbury Town’s League One campaign will even reach a conclusion.

Sam Ricketts’ men secured a couple of crucial wins before coronavirus struck, leaving Town unlikely to be sucked into a relegation dogfight.

But, 10 points shy of 11th place with just 10 games remaining, they were looking an extremely long-shot at troubling the top half.

Shrewsbury’s end of season awards generally take place in May, after the final game of the season, but – like the league campaign itself – whether such an event happens is up in the air.

But who was in line for the main award?

Lewis Cox runs the rule over four who should be considered contenders for Shrewsbury Town player of the season 2019/20.

Aaron Pierre

The giant defender had been monitored by Sam Ricketts for some time and was a key signing last summer as the boss attempted to stem the flow of opportunities that opposition were creating against his side.

Grenada captain Pierre, a player of the season at former club Northampton, was also highlighted as somebody with ability to use the ball well further forward.

Pierre has been a colossal in the majority of the 37 appearances he has made in his debut Salop campaign. There have been precious few occasions when opposition forwards have given the 27-year-old the runaround.

He wins headers, makes countless blocks and clearances and is seen as an immensely dependable part of the Shrews squad by his team-mates. A captain at former clubs, he is also one of the leaders.

His impact in the opposition penalty area – or outside of it as far as his Bristol City stunner is concerned – has been a potent weapon.

Four goals, including that dramatic late 25-yarder to set up Liverpool’s FA Cup visit, as well as some excellent defensive displays is why I think Pierre is deserving of Town’s player of the season.

Ethan Ebanks-Landell

Ricketts’ former Wolves colleague pushes his defensive team-mate Pierre a long way in the stakes for Town’s star man.

He is often name-checked by a his boss as a crucial part of the Shrewsbury squad.

It says everything about how highly Ricketts rates Ebanks-Landell that he made the towering centre-half his first capture of last summer’s transfer window.

Ebanks-Landell has showed a superb reading of the game in his debut season at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

He often very quietly goes about his business, spending most of the campaign at the heart of Ricketts’ back three.

To be so, at times, unrecognisable in his actions shows just how positionally aware and smartly Ebanks-Landell, 27, operates.

But the ex-Molineux man, who had vital experience of League One, is capable of a turn of speed and getting his side out of trouble with a big last-ditch challenge.

Daniel Udoh

Undoubtedly the feel-good story of Shrewsbury’s season, Udoh is probably the most unfortunate of all the Town squad to see the season suspended indefinitely because of the virus.

The Nigerian-born striker, a Telford resident and signed from the Bucks after a spectacular campaign last season, came with little expectation from Town fans.

He somewhat burst on to the scene in League One with a memorable late winner from the bench at Accrington Stanley in August.

But there were claims from Town’s staff that the 23-year-old was pushing himself too hard in trying to impress and get up to speed back in the professional game.

It changed for Udoh around Christmas time when he began earning himself a starting spot as Ricketts’ lone striker. Udoh had started games before this, many away from home as he was trusted as a focal point – and he had at times done well.

But a goal at Bolton helped and, all of a sudden as January turned to February, Udoh was like a striker reborn, holding off defenders, keeping the ball for his side, dribbling past opposition and scoring goals.

Udoh hit two in two against Bristol Rovers and Oxford before the suspension, two fine goals. And his signing now looks like a snip for Salop.

Max O’Leary

At times it is forgotten that O’Leary, at just 23, is playing the first regular league football of his short career.

And the Bristol City goalkeeper is sure to go on and enjoy a solid professional career if his loan stint in Shropshire is anything to go by.

He has put in some fine performances with some second-to-none shot-stopping that has at times bailed his side out of trouble and won points on his own, notably prior to Christmas when Town’s clean sheet tally was out on its own in League One and among the best in the Football League.

As a youngster learning his trade, and like all of his team-mates, O’Leary’s campaign hasn’t been perfect and free of errors. As is the case for any goalkeeper, mishaps often prove costly and, on occasions, Ricketts has turned to the experience of Joe Murphy to deputise.

O’Leary is generally good in the air but may look to work on that side of his game, as well as kicking and the communication with his defenders, but he has all the tools to be a top goalkeeper and his spell at the Meadow will have played a key role.