Aaron Wildig up for the battle at Shrewsbury Town
Aaron Wildig insists he is up for the fight to keep his place in the heart of Shrewsbury Town's midfield this season.
Wildig, 22, played 33 games for Town in the last campaign, despite significant spells on the sidelines because of knee and thigh injuries.
He will have plenty of competition for thel midfield slots in the coming season with Oldham's James Wesolowski and former Stoke and Sunderland man Liam Lawrence also having designs on them.
Dave McAllister also impressed during a significant stint in the middle last season, while Ryan Woods will also be eyeing a consistent role in his preferred position, having played largely at right-back last season.
And Wildig said: "You have just got to impress in training and just enjoy the fight.
"Woodsy was brilliant last year. It was his breakthrough season and he played around 40 games for us.
"I think he just wants to kick on now in centre midfield. We will be competing for a place, but obviously it is good competition.
"There's potential for us to be a first-choice partnership if we impress the manager.
"But there's Dave McAllister as well.We all know what he can do, he's a good player and the same with James Wesolowski.
"He was Oldham's player of the year last year so there is going to be good competition in there."
McAllister has been recovering from surgery on his ankle but is expected to miss no more than a week-and-a-half of pre-season training, meaning manager Micky Mellon should be spoilt for choice in terms of midfield options.
Having made 12 signings and with eight players retained, Mellon is not yet decided whether he will add another striker.
He said: "I don't know. Things are starting to get a wee bit tight now but we have got a few trialists in."