Graham Turner is considering entering the loan market in the next few weeks to bring in reinforcements to keep his high-flying Shrewsbury Town players on their toes.
Boss Turner insisted he had been pleased with the efforts of his side in the opening six weeks of the season and stressed the mood around the Greenhous Meadow remained very positive despite last weekend’s opening League Two defeat of the season at Gillingham.
But he revealed using the emergency loan system was always an option, not that he’s expecting to have any new arrivals in place ahead of Saturday’s home clash against Northampton.
“I wouldn’t rule out the prospect of us looking at loan players over the next two or three weeks,” said Turner. “I think sometimes in order to keep people on their toes and keep the players’ focus right you need a new face now and again.”
Turner developed a reputation as a knowledgeable loan ranger when he was in charge at Hereford, with several temporary signings playing leading roles as the Bulls gained promotion from this division two years ago.
And he’s earned the trust of a host of leading managers for looking after their most promising youngsters. “What other managers and other clubs recognise is that the team tries to get the ball down and pass it,” he said.
“That’s crucial to the development of young players. Many of them want to see young players go out and get experience at the right sort of club with the right sort of team play. I’ve had the confidence boost over the last few years of managers saying ‘we would like them to come to you’.
“I’m hoping that won’t change and that there are good players out there and their parent clubs, their managers, will say, yes, we think it’s a positive move for them to come to Shrewsbury.”
Turner, who said defender Danny O’Donnell was in line to return to training by the end of this week, is now seeking the right kind of reaction from his players on Saturday in the wake of the 2-0 defeat at Gillingham.
“If we’re going to be successful we can’t afford to lose two games consecutively,” he said. “We lost at Gillingham and it wasn’t a particularly brilliant game.
“We were a little bit lacklustre but, having watched the DVD, we weren’t as bad as we thought immediately after the match.
“That’s over and done with now and what we’ve got to do is get the players back on track and keep the confidence high because, the way we play, you need a little bit of confidence about you.
“You will find that one or two players occasionally have off days and we don’t quite flow like we would want to, but it’s a situation we have to persevere with because of the nature in which we want to play the game. It will come right.”
Turner added he was hoping for a bright performance from the reserves at home to Preston last night (Wednesday) to give him a selection headache for the weekend.
“If I was in the reserves at the moment I would be champing at the bit thinking I’m better than what’s in the side at the moment,” said the boss. “It’s up to them to force the issue.”
Meanwhile, Town’s talented teenage striker Tom Bradshaw proved an instant hit with a goalscoring debut for Wales under-19s in Tuesday’s friendly in Liechtenstein. Bradshaw, 18, scored the opener in a 2-0 win and also hit the bar as he impressed manager Brian Flynn.
“It was a brilliant experience and I’m absolutely buzzing,” said Bradshaw.
By Stuart Dunn