Tom Bayliss heading to Shrewsbury rivals

The midfielder – who signed for Shrewsbury in the summer of 2022 when Steve Cotterill was in charge at the Croud Meadow – made 81 appearances for Town during his two-year stay.

But the attacking midfielder’s significant drop-off in form and high wages led to the former Coventry man being released when his contract came to an end at the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.

And now, as a free agent, he is set to join the Imps – a side who narrowly missed out on a play-off spot as they were pipped to sixth place by eventual play-off winners Oxford on the final day of the campaign.

It was Bayliss’ first season at Shrews that was his most impressive.

He made 36 appearances, scoring six times, but picked up an ankle ligament injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

He was unable to regain the form he showed in that first year last campaign.

For the second consecutive season, he missed a significant chunk through injury and despite Paul Hurst showing a lot of faith in the 25-year-old in the second half of the season, he was unable to reward that with consistent performances.

Bayliss thanked the club for giving him his ‘love for football back’ in a statement on X when his release was announced and next season he will have the chance to play against Shrews again in League One, but this time under his new boss Michael Skubala.