Gavin Cowan on Isaac Lee, Callum Stewart and Isaac England's game time at Shrewsbury Town

Lee is yet to make his Salop debut or feature in a matchday squad under Cowan. He joined Town from from Welsh Premier League side Flint Town United for an undisclosed fee during the January transfer window.

Asked about the situation regarding Lee, Cowan said: "(It's) more so development. Isaac has come into this environment and he needs to learn. 

"There's certainly a talent there, there's lots of ability, but there's areas that he needs to improve on. He knows that.

"Part of this season is - yes of course if he needs to be called up we want to utilise him - but a big part of this is really preparing him and working as hard as we can to make him as dynamic as we possibly can going into next season."

Alongside Lee, Callum Stewart has been absent since returning from a loan spell at Brackley Town, where he previously played under Cowan.

"We feel like he needs games," added Cowan. "I had him at Brackley. (He's a) real talent, loads of skill, a goal scorer. 

"In terms of him developing, he needs football matches because he just needs to learn that football IQ.

"This is something I spoke to him about. When he starts to understand the strategy a little bit more as opposed to just relying on his own skill set, we've got something there that we feel like we can build on. 

"We'd like him to get games. At the moment, that hasn't happened. He is an incredible lad, you want characters like him around, you want people like him around, but that's not going to aid his development.

"We need to make calculated decisions on how we want these players to contribute to the club."

Young academy graduate Isaac England has also not featured in a matchday squad in the past month, with Cowan revealing the teenager has been sidelined by injury.

"It's tough," Cowan said on managing loan and young players. "When I finished playing myself, I said that if I ever go into management, all I want is honesty.

"I've had some brilliant managers who have been more than honest and sometimes brutally honest.

"I've had managers as well that lie through their back teeth. The best thing to do with players is be honest with them because then there's no grey area. They might not like it, but they respect it. I think we're honest with all of the players.

"With Isaac England, he's had a setback, a bit of an injury. Isaac is certainly a hot prospect for us for the future. We're in a relegation battle at the moment, so we know what we need to improve on with him.

"In my first couple of days I wanted more from him. Since then, he trained so well just before he got injured. He really showed us why at 17-years-old he's in and around the first team. 

"He's a real class act. We've got real high hopes for him."