Dave Edwards: Striker and some creativity would fit the bill at Shrewsbury Town

Not just because of the situation of the fans being back in the stadium, but also having the manager back and having had a full pre-season with the players.

There is a real air of optimism around the Town at the moment that this could be a successful season and we can push to that top half and have games that matter at the end of the season to try push into those play-offs.

I've heard the manager speak post-match and spoken to a number of supporters who went along, it seems everyone was feeling those opening-day nerves early on. You can get those at the start of a season.

The first half was not where the manager would want it, Burton had chances and looked a threat.

But after a few changes at the break it looked like only one team were going to score. If we'd have got that equaliser with 20 to go we'd have gone on to try to win it.

There were, however, clear positives for us to take as fans. George Nurse played really well when he came on, Matty Pennington was excellent again. It will take time to click and I'm sure there will be new faces in to help the lads out.

I think the signings have all been excellent. You wouldn't say any have been brought in as squad players, the manager's always said he wants players to come and affect the starting XI.

Every player has done that, but they still are very light. He does have a nice blend in there, lads coming from lower leagues with a point to prove, and lads with real experience like Elliott Bennett, Luke Leahy and Dave Davis, who was just finding his feet at the end of last year after not playing for so long.

Young Natty did well when he came on. It's actually a position I spoke to him a lot about last season, I think he sees his future as a central midfielder as he gets older because of his natural ball-playing ability. It's a great option for the gaffer.

He was our best second half of last year, I thought was brilliant, it's not often a lad comes from an academy and plays and sustains that level. He's technically one of the best players and definitely has the most potential.

I think we definitely need another central midfielder. That's important, even with Ollie in there I felt we needed someone for a bit of depth and a different type of midfielder.

I thought the same last year, when we play Ollie Norburn, Josh Vela and Davis they are similar, big workers, very good at winning the ball. But it'd be nice to see the guile and attacking edge, like when we had Chappy, to make the difference.

Vela and Davis will do everything you want a midfielder to do, but you just need that creative spark.

And you can never have enough strikers! There's got to be a reason that No.9 shirt hasn't been filled yet – there's got to be a striker coming through the door.

I'd love to see Dan Udoh carry on his pre-season form and score goals. I think he's got so much potential to do well and play at a higher level. He reminds me very much of the mould of Andre Gray, someone with natural raw ability to muscle defenders. He just needs to get on a run.

I know Vokesy really well, we're good friends from Wolves and Wales and he'd have been perfect for how the manager plays with his quality. I was surprised he was linked with League One, I thought he had unfinished business in the Championship.

I was surprised to see him end up at Wycombe. If I'd have known that I could've got on the phone a lot earlier and told him Shropshire's the place to be!

Someone of his mould would be big. It's great to be having conversations and be touted with that type of player, it shows how far we've come and what Steve Cotterill can do. It's massive to have a manager with his reputation and reach.

I think it's telling Ollie's not captain, I know that was a huge thing for him that he wanted to do.

It looks like his future might not be in Shropshire. But he's had a really tough couple of years personally, he's not from the area and travels from Bolton way. I know what travelling from Reading to Shropshire was like!

After the tough years he's had nobody could blame Ollie if he wanted to be closer to home. He's given his all for the club over three years.

Elliott seemed the obvious option as captain with his experience but I know how highly the gaffer thinks of Ethan, he's a player that'll play through any injury possible, it takes a lot to force Ethan off. Steve likes that in a player.

The wing-backs is such a demanding position in Steve's 3-5-2, so I can see that position rotated, maybe that's another part of it.

Ethan is a leader, very good around the dressing room and training ground, he's a big voice, says it how it is if he doesn't like things - and he's a bit of a joker. The gaffer likes his qualities.