Michael Symes will be given every chance to play his way back into Shrewsbury Town’s plans, according to boss Paul Simpson.
Symes, top scorer in his first season with the club, was farmed out on loan to League Two rivals Macclesfield by former manager Gary Peters midway through last season but often failed to command a place in the Silkmen’s team.
Simpson knows what Symes is capable of and insists he will receive the opportunity to revive his Town career when the squad return for pre-season training on July 3.
“When I’ve seen Michael Symes, I’ve always been fairly impressed,” said Simpson. “His job is to come in for pre-season and show me that he should be here and not going out on loan. He’ll be given a fair crack of the whip, the same as any other player.”
Left back Neil Ashton, who also ended last season on loan at Macclesfield as a regular under Keith Alexander, is also expected to compete for a Town place in the new campaign, with Simpson revealing he has not received any fresh interest from the Cheshire club.
“I’ve not had a single phone call from Macclesfield,” he said.
Simpson, meanwhile, is still waiting to see whether striker Guy Madjo will be available for the start of the season or if he will be on Olympic duty for Cameroon.
“I know Guy played half a game against Japan and he’s with the squad until the 20th,” said the boss. “We’ve just got to wait and see whether he will make the Olympic squad and I’m just waiting to hear from Guy, his agent or the Cameroon FA to see if he does.”
Simpson continues to work on trying to strengthen his Town squad, confirming he currently has offers on the table for four targets, although he gave no clues as to the identity of the players and what positions they play.
“We’ve spoken to numerous people and we’ll keep working,” he said. “The first calls that go in are to find out if players are interested or whether it’s a non-starter, and the ones we’ve spoken to have been very positive.
“I want to try and change the squad around and would like to bring in the players I’ve identified, but there’s competition from other clubs, as there always is with good players.”
Town will open the new season with back-to-back home games. They kick off their League Two campaign against Macclesfield at Oteley Road on August 9 before League One Carlisle United, Simpson’s home town side and the club he managed to two promotions, provide the opposition in the first round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday, August 12 (7.45pm).
by Stuart Dunn
