Gavin Cowan's emotional response to joining exclusive Shrewsbury Town club

Gavin Cowan expressed his pride at matching a Shrewsbury Town record previously achieved by some of the club's managerial greats.

Cowan led Salop to six wins from his opening 10 matches in charge, masterminding a remarkable revival that secured League Two survival.

In doing so, the Town boss matched a club record previously achieved by club greats Graham Turner and Chic Bates, as well as former manager Jimmy Quinn, something he said left him humbled.

Cowan said: “To even be mentioned in the same breath as obviously Graham Turner. I've shared his company, thankfully, at some point. Then obviously Chic, they're just legends of the football club.

“Obviously it's one stat. So I'm certainly not proclaiming to be anywhere near what those legends of the football club are.

“But to even be mentioned in the same breath just around one stat, there's not many people that can say that.

“So if we could pull just any form of stat out for me to be connected to them, whether it's I breathe the same air as them or I ran on the same football pitch that they used to run on, whatever it may be, to be mentioned in the same breath is pretty overwhelming.

“I know there's a lot of supporters and having been here now over 20 years, their names are constantly brought up.

“Isn't that a thing for life in general? You know, when you want to leave a legacy. Those guys have left a legacy, their names will be forever remembered here.

“I'm certainly not going to pre-empt anything like that for myself at the moment. But just to be mentioned in the same breath as them at a distance is a real privilege.”

Speaking to the Shropshire Star in April, former manager Turner said Cowan had done an “excellent job” after guiding Town to Football League safety.

Cowan ended the season with a win percentage of 42.1 per cent, having overseen eight victories in 19 matches since taking charge in late January.