The wait is over: What to watch as Shrewsbury Town kick off the new season

As Gavin Cowan says, there is nothing quite like the real thing.

The wait is over. Shrewsbury Town’s competitive campaign begins tomorrow and with it comes the anticipation, excitement and uncertainty that only the start of a new season can bring.

Salop travel to Moor Lane to face Salford City in the first round of the Carabao Cup, taking on a side many expect to be challenging for promotion in League Two once again.

Yet it is also a ground that holds fond memories for Cowan. It was there, in February, that his side produced one of the defining moments of their survival fight, coming from behind to claim a memorable victory. They will be hoping for a similar outcome to launch the new campaign.

“I can’t wait, to be honest,” Cowan told the Shropshire Star.

“The Villa game was probably the first time I felt like it was all clicking with the lads and connecting, and it’s great timing.

“But there’s nothing like it. From a mentality perspective, I felt like sometimes the lads maybe drifted off a little bit, but that doesn’t happen in a league or cup game. It certainly shouldn’t anyway. I can’t wait.”

That victory at Salford formed part of a remarkable turnaround under Cowan during the second half of last season. But much has changed since then.

After spending his first few months firefighting to preserve Shrewsbury’s Football League status, Cowan has enjoyed his first full summer to reshape the squad in his own image.

One of the more intriguing aspects of their victory over Aston Villa’s youngsters was the advanced positioning of Jay Turner-Cooke and Tom Sang, who pushed high to press and win possession, while Will Gray anchored the midfield behind them.

Cowan insisted too much should not be read into it, but hinted at a side capable of adapting its approach and playing with greater attacking intent. That can only be welcome after Salop finished last season as the second-lowest scorers in League Two.

“There’s not so much something in it,” Cowan said.

“I thought that, in terms of the game strategy of the day and getting minutes into the players, I wouldn’t read too much into it.

“You’ve got three midfielders in there that we wanted to understand how to flip the midfield. I thought they did it really well.

“I thought Turner-Cooke was excellent. I thought Sang was excellent. I thought Gray was excellent. So, yeah, it’s an option for us.”

Team selection will also be a major talking point ahead of kick-off.

Will it be Will Brook between the posts? Up front, Josh Davison, George Lloyd and Isaac Fletcher look the most likely front three after all three found the net during pre-season.

Arkell Jude-Boyd has been one of Shrewsbury’s standout performers over the summer, while Kevin Berkoe appears well placed to make the left-sided role his own.

Midfield, though, is where Cowan has some welcome decisions to make. Isaac England and Turner-Cooke have struck up an encouraging partnership, Sang impressed with his energy and industry against Villa, while academy graduate Gray has continued his rapid emergence.

And there could also be timely boosts, with Luca Hoole and Jack Price edging back towards contention after injury setbacks.

“We need to see how they are this week,” Cowan said.

“I think they’re doing everything possible to be available. I can’t say who the team’s going to be because we don’t know who’s going to be fit. We’re just waiting.”