'Have to be fluent' - Gavin Cowan outlines Shrewsbury Town's tactical evolution

Gavin Cowan says his Shrewsbury Town side will need to be “fluent” in different formations and game plans this season.

Town have largely operated with a back-three system, which they used throughout last season, including during the second half of the campaign after Cowan arrived and oversaw their brilliant turnaround.

But in Tuesday night’s opening pre-season friendly at non-league Stafford Rangers, Salop alternated between a back four and a back three as Cowan began experimenting with different tactical approaches.

“We’re known for being a bit of a back three, but we’re going to have to be fluent through the formations,” the Town chief explained.

“I think I probably didn’t have time to work on it with the lads last year. Now we feel like we need to be a little bit more fluent through different types of game strategies and formations - and we’ve catered for that in terms of the recruitment. So, yeah, really good to see actually.”

The game marked Town’s first outing of pre-season, giving Salop an opportunity to put their work from the training ground into practice while building valuable match fitness.

Boss Cowan was also able to assess all seven of his summer signings, with each featuring across the 90 minutes as two different XIs took to the field in either half.

Despite the goalless draw, he took plenty of encouragement from the performance and pointed to the difficult playing conditions.

Cowan continued: “It was really tough to get on the ball - it wasn’t the night for it in truth, for any sort of footballing team. It’s really dry here, really bobbly, really tough to get on the ball.

“Stafford we’re really tenacious…really trying to prove a point and it gives them an opportunity to get half a yard, even a yard closer to you.

“So, it makes it much more difficult for us, but that was part of the plan really.”