Luca Hoole injury update after Shrewsbury Town pre-season setback

Gavin Cowan is hopeful Luca Hoole will be sidelined for only “a couple of weeks” after suffering an ankle injury.

Hoole missed Shrewsbury Town’s opening game in the Isle of Man on Friday after picking up the knock during last Tuesday’s pre-season draw at Stafford Rangers.

The setback comes after the defender missed a lengthy spell towards the end of last season with an ankle injury.

Asked for an update on Hoole, Town boss Cowan said: “Yeah, precaution. We’re hoping a couple of weeks.

“There’s an outside chance it could be worse, but it’s settling down now and we think it’ll be the better end of it.

“Pre-season is about keeping everybody healthy. So that was the downside to Stafford the other night.

“It was again, a real bobbly, dry pitch where it’s hard to get going, hard to move the ball quickly - and that’s a little bit what we want.

“We’re doing a lot of work in possession at the moment in training.

“So when it gets here, it’s another real challenge to be able to settle the ball down on what is a really tough pitch.”

Cowan revealed Hoole rolled his ankle during the goalless draw with Stafford in Shrewsbury's opening pre-season fixture.

The defender signed a new two-year contract earlier this summer after an impressive campaign in which he collected several of the club’s end-of-season awards.