Josh Davison makes honest admission after Shrewsbury Town brace

Josh Davison hopes his Shrewsbury Town brace can spark a goalscoring revival after admitting his recent return has fallen below expectations.

The summer recruit opened his Salop account with a rapid double during Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Aston Villa’s youngsters in their final pre-season outing.

Davison headed home twice to get off the mark after joining Town following his release by Tranmere Rovers - and the 26-year-old hopes the goals will now start to flow in the new campaign.

“The last couple of years for me, goals-wise, the return hasn’t been too good, from my expectations,” the 26-year-old admitted. “So I want to get that going again.

“It’s nice to get off the mark, even in pre-season. Now I’ve got those two, as a striker, hopefully things just fall for you and you start scoring and it comes in bunches. It’s a good time to get them.”

Davison arrived at the Croud Meadow after two seasons with Tranmere, having also spent the second half of last season on loan at Cheltenham Town. The striker scored six League Two goals across those two campaigns.

But he is hoping to rediscover his scoring touch at Salop, with boss Gavin Cowan already helping restore his confidence and belief.

“One of the main conversations we had was about my confidence and just trying to get that back,” he said.

“I’ve had it before when I was at Swindon Town, when I was at AFC Wimbledon, and then I lost it for a couple of years at Tranmere. So, now it’s just trying to find that back in that form.”

Davison became Cowan’s third signing of the summer. The forward has been a regular throughout pre-season, leading the line alongside George Lloyd in Town’s final two friendlies, but had been waiting for his first goal at the club.

He reacted quickest to head home a rebound after Lloyd’s initial effort in the sixth minute, before completing his brace with a powerful header from Tom Sang’s free-kick delivery nine minutes later.

Developing his aerial threat has been a key focus for the striker since arriving at Shrewsbury.

“The first one was a typical striker’s finish, sniffing out a little rebound,” Davison added.

“I enjoy them, you can get five of them in a season, so hopefully it’s good habits and the second one was a nice header.

“I’ve just been working with the gaffer and talking about just staying in between the 18-yard box, more between the sticks.

“Because I can head it, I can score with my right, my left, getting on the end of crosses is something that’s been big.

“I’ve been working on that and then it came to fruition today. I just need to keep it on this season.”