Shrewsbury Town seal 11th hour deadline day signing of Aberdeen's Curtis Main on short-term deal
Shrewsbury Town completed an 11th hour deadline day raid to bring Aberdeen striker Curtis Main back for a second spell at the club.
Main, 28, penned a short-term contract until the end of the season after leaving the Scottish Premiership Dons.
He spent one month on loan at Shrewsbury in the 2013/14 season, where he failed to score in six appearances.
The former Middlesbrough youngster has since represented the likes of Doncaster, Portsmouth, Motherwell and Aberdeen.
He had netted three goals in 18 appearances for the Scottish Premiership side this season, but been allowed to leave.
Salop made the late move north of the border after being disappointed for the second January running in their high-profile pursuit of Will Grigg as the Sunderland sealed a loan move to league rivals MK Dons right on the deadline.
The bid to bring in highly-rated Stoke left wing-back Josh Tymon on loan also proved fruitless, with Tymon staying at the Bet365 Stadium as a versatile squad option to Michael O’Neill.
Town had a chance to move for Peterborough midfielder Ryan Broom – who joined the Posh for around £300,000 last summer – on loan, but Broom was instead swept up on loan by basement boys Burton.
Versatile former Cheltenham midfielder Broom, 24, has filled in at right wing-back for Posh this term and could have been an option for Shrews for cover in more than one role.
Blackburn captain Elliott Bennett, who is out of contract in the summer and believed to be keen on a move to Town in returning closer to his Telford home, stayed put at Ewood Park, where he is an influential part of Tony Mowbray’s squad.
It is likely that the move for versatile Bennett will be revisited in the summer.
Town, who had absent manager Steve Cotterill calling the shots on deals from his Bristol hospital bed, ended the window with five new additions all locked down earlier in the month.
Harry Chapman and Matthew Pennington checked in on loan deals before Town made the permanent acquisitions of midfielder David Davis and defender Nathanael Ogbeta.
Main joins Daniel Udoh, Leon Clarke – who has picked up another hamstring injury – and and Rekeil Pyke as centre-forwards vying from a place in the frontline with Shaun Whalley.
Jason Cummings was allowed to leave on a free transfer to Scottish side Dundee last week.
Departures from the club were also a possibility on deadline day, though no further players were allowed to move on as Cotterill, who prefers to work with a smaller squad, successfully trimmed down the bloated group he inherited.
A handful of clubs showed interest in taking Pyke on loan, but Salop rebuffed approaches.
Including loans that returned to their parent clubs, nine players in total left Town this month.
Some supporters voiced concern over the lack of direct replacements for departed wing-back duo Charlie Daniels and Matt Millar.
But new boy Ogbeta impressed on his Town bow at left wing-back in the victory over Peterborough on Saturday and Town decided he, Scott Golbourne and Donald Love – who can play on either side of defence – will be relied on for the remainder of the season.
Town, in 17th, are five points clear of the drop at the midway point of the League One season, with as many as three games in hand on their rivals in the primary concern of steering clear of relegation.
