‘Completely different animal’ - Gavin Cowan’s on Shrewsbury Town striker George Lloyd

Gavin Cowan says George Lloyd has been a “completely different animal” during Shrewsbury Town’s pre-season campaign.

The striker scored a stunning equaliser to earn Salop a draw in Tuesday night’s friendly against Hereford.

Lloyd, who has scored nine goals in almost 100 competitive appearances for Shrewsbury, signed a new contract this summer. And boss Cowan has been impressed by the striker in pre-season.

Praising the 26-year-old, he said: “I’m a big believer in belief. I think one thing that we’re giving Lloydy is a bit of belief, and we're giving him a bit of direction.

“He is a completely different animal in training to what he was last year. I have to say that.

“I don’t want to pre-empt things or put any pressure on his shoulders. But the truth is, he’s looked very, very good in front of goal.

“We got him in during the off-season and we spoke a lot about mentality and just being brave. Almost burning the boats, as it were.

“So, yes, it didn’t surprise me when that goal went in. He had one after that as well, where he could have shifted another shot, which, as opposed to praising him when he came off, I reminded him of that one.”

Lloyd joined Town from Cheltenham Town in the summer of 2024 and featured in every match under Cowan after the head coach took charge in late January.

After the striker signed a new deal to remain at the club this summer, Cowan challenged him to “get selfish” in a bid to improve his goalscoring return.

The equaliser against Hereford was Lloyd’s first goal of pre-season as Shrewsbury continue preparations for the new campaign.

Cowan continued: “You can see what a brilliant team player he is. We just now need to give him that belief that when he’s in those areas, he has the capability and the ability and the skill set to do what he did tonight.”