Striker Stuart Nicholson has signed for Town on a season long loan.

The 20 year old has come in from West Bromwich Albion today to join Town.

He has Premiership experience and was also on loan at Bristol Rovers last season where he had a strike rate of a goal every two games.

Stuart will have squad number 10.

ShrewsWeb spoke to GP to find out more about the deal: "I've brought in someone I've been interested in for a while and with Cookey's injury and Derek going I would have probably got him in anyway to replace Derek.

"Once we were convinced that Derek's deal had gone through it meant we moved quickly to take Stuart Nicholson from West Brom.

"He's a player I've been after for a long time and he can be a special player.

"He's very quick, Chris Humphrey has been telling the lads that Stuart is quicker than him, we still don't believe that but they were youth players together and Stuart used to win.

"He plays off the last man, is a goalscorer and he scored something like 7 goals in 13 starts at Bristol Rovers last season. He played in the Premier League with West Brom but also in our league for Bristol Rovers and scored and scored.

"I don't think I've been anymore excited about signing a player as I am with Stuart, I signed some good lads in the summer and we are a young bright team that Stuart can make brighter."

With the Derek Asamoah transfer and the injury to Andy Cooke GP has moved quickly to bring in Stuart. He puts this down to all the hard work that he puts in during the week watching matches and players: "That's a lot of hard work and home work from being out every night watching games and players.

"If I get an injury in a certain position I know where I'm going to get a replacement.

"I'd been in contact with West Brom all summer and luckily they made a signing yesterday and with our situation it meant it all came together.

"It just shows it's important to put in that hard work and put in the miles to make sure you've already got a plan."

With the deal being a year long loan it puts less pressure on Stuart but also give GP a player for the season: "They call it year long loan but it does feel like you've signed a player as sometimes you only give a player a years contract.

"We've got a year to impress Stuart and he's got a year to impress us and hopefully by the end of the year we could maybe make him our player.

"It all depends on how West Brom do, if they push on and look like they are getting to the Premier League then he might be someone we could get."

Stuart has met up with his new team mates this morning for training, it now puts him in a good position to be involved for the weekends game with Bradford City: "There is a good chance that he will be involved at the weekend as he's a natural successor to Cookey.

"We all know what Symesy can do but it showed the other night that he's a bit off full match fitness, with him and Fola they worked as hard as they could be neither were match fit.

"We've got to have strikers who are really on form and put pressure on each other."

Today has now seen the Derek Asamoah saga come to an end and an exciting new face in the Town squad, and GP is now happy to look forward: "We've got a great squad of players and great lads in that squad who blend together well.

"It's a team and even before Derek disappeared to France I was still trying to sell him to Swindon so we could be a team.

"We didn't want someone who wasn't part of that team ethics so we feel stronger as an eleven as apposed to ten going in one direction and one other wanting to go elsewhere."