Luca Hoole on staying at Shrewsbury Town after ‘difficult’ injury spell

Luca Hoole’s future may have been up in the air - but the Shrewsbury Town defender says he always knew where he wanted to be.

As his contract edged towards its final stages last season, Hoole had already made up his mind: he wanted to stay at the Meadow.

“Me and the gaffer had lots of conversations while I was injured,” Hoole explained.

“All throughout the latter end of the season was speaking to him and I think I knew the whole time what I was going to do. I’m glad I got over the line and we signed.”

The 24-year-old returned from a lengthy spell out with an ankle injury in Town’s final game of last season. Supporters in the away end and watching on at home did not know whether it would be the final time they saw the defender in a Shrewsbury shirt.

In what was a difficult campaign for Town, Hoole had been one of the brighter performers during his second season in Shropshire.

This summer, he signed a new two-year deal at the Meadow, committing his future to the club. Now entering his third season with Salop, he is one of the longest-serving members of the squad.

“Since I came here, I have loved the area,” Hoole added.

“The people are all so nice. I love it here, I love the club, the lads are top. So, it was quite an easy decision.”

Hoole missed a large chunk of Town’s pre-season after suffering an injury in their first friendly, having only recently returned from his ankle problem.

That injury, suffered against Walsall in late February, was initially expected to keep him out for the remainder of the campaign. He did miss several months but managed to make his return on the final day.

Hoole admits the lengthy recovery was a new experience for him.

“It was difficult,” he reflected. “It was my first, I’d say, proper injury.

“Looking back at it, I’m grateful that it wasn’t a lot longer, because it could have been worse. So you’ve always got to take the positives out of it, that’s the kind of person I am.

“But yeah, it was difficult because we’d just come off the back of winning those games and felt like I was performing and playing well. And then out of nowhere, I was like, ‘Now I’m out for the rest of the season’.

“But once I knew that I was coming back, it was about this season now, and it’s time to put it right, and hopefully get back to the form that the team was in and that I was in personally.”

It has been a difficult start to the new campaign for Town, who have collected just one win from their opening five league games.

Hoole, who picked up a host of end-of-season awards following his performances last term, has been tasked by Gavin Cowan with building on the progress he had made before his injury.

“He just wants me to build on last season,” he said.

“Just before I got injured, he and I felt like I was kind of building something and getting a bit of flow.

“It’s building on that, getting back to that, and then adding some more on to it, some more quality on the ball. Hopefully be a bit more aggressive off the ball.”