Shrewsbury Town swoop for Conor McLaughlin loan move

Shrewsbury Town this afternoon made a surprise loan raid by swooping for promising young Preston defender Conor McLaughlin.

The full-back, a Northern Ireland Under-21 international, has joined Town's promotion push on a two-month deal. Boss Graham Turner moved to bolster his ranks after full-back Joe Jacobson was ruled out of tomorrow's trip to Crewe with a groin problem.

And McLaughlin, 20 will now come into the reckoning for an immediate debut as Town look to cement their place in the top three of League Two.

Listen to this week's football podcast

The highly-rated youngster has made 11 starts and eight substitute appearances for Preston this term.

His most recent senior outing came in a 30-minute substitute appearance in Preston's 2-1 League One defeat at Sheffield United a fortnight ago, while he also featured in North End's reserve game against Manchester City last week which signalled Carlos Tevez's return to English football.

"He is a full-back who can play at right or left-back and it is an area where we have been a bit thin on the ground," said Turner.

"Joe Jacobson is not going to be fit for the weekend and must be a serious doubt for next Tuesday's game with Oxford.

"We've now got cover and the big advantage with Conor is that he can play either side of defence. We've been tracking him for a month."

McLaughlin has recovered from a serious ankle injury suffered when landing awkwardly in a game for Preston against Bristol City last February.

Jacobson's absence may form part of a defensive reshuffle with Jermaine Grandison pushing hard to be included after his delayed arrival because of heavy traffic forced him to settle for a place among the substitutes for Monday's 2-1 triumph over Crawley.

He could return at the expense of Shane Cansdell-Sherriff while Marvin Morgan is also seeking a recall after scoring the winner in midweek.

Town look set to be backed by a sell-out away following at Gresty Road.

Just 60 of the 1,650 allocation remained at lunchtime today.

Tickets must be purchased by 5pm tonight.

See also: