Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst has told supporters he’s in no rush to add to their squad despite their opening-day defeat.
Speaking to The Shropshire Star, the former Grimsby Town boss revealed that Salop has two remaining long-term targets that they’re still working hard to secure. Supporters may feel they need reinforcements after Elliot List’s goal condemned them to defeat at the weekend.
Hurst’s side is among the favourites to go down despite 11 new faces coming through the door over the weekend. That number will be boosted by two if the 49-year-old gets his way.
“We’re still working at it,” said Hurst, who returned to take charge of Salop for a second time in January. “It would be a no before tonight, unless things change, which they can with a phone call.”
He then confessed that two is the likely total of their expected business unless he has a chance to have an ‘honest conversation’ about a move with existing members of the squad.
“The reality is we’re looking to bring two players in and then after that it would depend on anything happening to our own squad, whether that’s players being unhappy, opportunities arising or just an honest conversation.”
This evening, Shrewsbury are in League Cup action against Notts County at the New Meadow, while they also host Peterborough in the league and Fulham Under 21s in the EFL Trophy to conclude three home matches in eight days.
Salop is in their ninth season in League One and has only finished twice above halfway. One of those occasions was under Hurst, the other under Steve Cotterill in the 2022/23 season. Last campaign, they narrowly avoided the drop, ending the season in 19th, just four points clear of the bottom four.
They’ve added numbers to their squad, including Harrison Biggins, Luca Hoole, Toto Nsiala, George Lloyd, John Marquis, Jordan Rossiter and Josh Feeney, but still look some way short of a competitive side in League One.
Writer’s View
It’s going to take a lot more than a couple of players to give Salop a fighting chance of survival. Sadly, their recruitment has been lukewarm at best, and while they weren’t over-awed by Stevenage, it wasn’t an enthralling contest.
Hurst was dismissed by Grimsby last season as he struggled to keep them in the fourth tier, and still got the job at Shrewsbury, based (almost certainly) on what he’d done before. The Director of Football at Salop, Micky Moore, has made odd comments about last season’s recruitment, and they feel very much like a club in regression.
Unless their new faces are Mbappe and Messi, this could be a very long season for fans watching in Shropshire.
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