'Expect to see plenty of that' - Shrewsbury Town boss' Isaac Fletcher Prediction

Gavin Cowan expects Isaac Fletcher to live up to his ‘fox in the box’ billing for Shrewsbury Town this season.

Fletcher scored his first goal for Salop in Saturday’s friendly against West Brom, showing composure inside the penalty area to convert calmly.

After joining Town from Barrow this summer, supporters of his former club described him as a ‘fox in the box’, highlighting his intelligent movement, sharp anticipation and natural instinct as a goalscorer. Shrewsbury boss Gavin Cowan believes those qualities will be a valuable asset.

He said: “He’s got a knack of arriving late and scoring goals. So expect to see plenty of that through the course of the season.”

Town responded after falling two goals behind against West Brom by winning possession high up the pitch, with Tom Sang racing forward before squaring the ball to Fletcher, who had positioned himself inside the area and finished confidently into the back of the net.

However, attacking opportunities were limited for Salop against a Championship side, but it was not something Cowan was overly concerned about.

“It wasn't really about us being offensive,” he added. “It was more about that defensive side and how we were going to be out of possession.

“No one should be getting emotional about results at the moment. Championship teams are going to have a really tough time against these over the course of the new season.

“We were a little bit passive at times because, again, the lads are so focused on how they want to play and how they want to be positioned. The problem is you try and jump out against a team like this and they just pass the ball around you.

“It's just a great body of work now for me to show them that this is how we want you to set up and this is where we want you to end up.”