Shrewsbury Town January transfer deadline day: How things stand
New boss Gavin Cowan has had little time to work on late January transfer window business - here's how things stand for Shrewsbury Town on deadline day.
While it is expected to be a quiet deadline day at Shrewsbury, that situation could change quickly if the club are able to move players on to make room for late arrivals.
Upon Cowan's appointment last Thursday, Shrewsbury chief executive Liam Dooley said the club was "happy" with its business during the mid-season window and would likely need to shift bodies out before bringing any further players in.
So far, Shrewsbury have welcomed six January arrivals, including four loan signings. Permanent additions Nick Freeman and Isaac Lee have been joined by loanees Temple Ojinnaka from Wolves, Iwan Morgan and Mat Cox from Brentford, and Trey Ogunsuyi from Sunderland.
Only two players have departed Salop during the window - Harrison Biggins, who joined fellow League Two strugglers Newport County on loan, and George Nurse, who moved to Cheltenham Town.
Mal Benning had been transfer-listed earlier this month under former boss Michael Appleton. However, he made his first start since November's EFL Trophy defeat to Northampton in the goalless draw against Barnet and earned praise from Cowan for his performance, making an exit on deadline day unlikely.
Fellow defender Sam Stubbs also appeared to be heading for the exit after being frozen out of the squad since early December under Appleton. But, like Benning, he was handed a start against Barnet and is now firmly part of Cowan's plans.
Speaking after the draw, Cowan admitted he has had little time to focus on the final stages of the January window, but did not rule out late movement should the opportunity arise.
That followed Cowan's first press conference, in which he acknowledged it would be "incredibly tough" for Town to make further signings, adding: "With the finances of the football club, we need to really get our heads down and see what it is that we can do."
The new Salop head coach was appointed with just days remaining of the window, which closes at 7pm today, meaning any late business would likely depend on players departing first.
CEO Liam Dooley said: "We are happy with the business we have done so far. A lot of the players were identified in the summer. We have managed to do a lot of business early.
"Right now, we would probably look to move people on before we brought someone in. But that does mean there isn’t time in the window to do that.
"When the new head coach has got people he has identified, and we have to work within our means, but we will see what happens."
