Town were dealt a big blow yesterday when new loan signing Joss Labadie limped out at the end of the training session.
Joss had felt something go in his foot when he put his weight on it and a scan has revealed that he has a fracture in the foot which will keep him out for up to 6 weeks.
It's a big blow to Town and for Joss who made a good debut to his Town career in the 0-0 draw at Bradford City on Saturday.
Town manager Paul Simpson revealed the news to ShrewsWeb this morning: "I've been really pleased with what we've seen of Joss so far and it's a big blow for us.
"We've been watching him since back in August and have looked at him on a number of occasions and decided that now was a good time to bring him in.
"He had a very good debut for us at Bradford and has looked strong in training so far.
"About 5-minutes before the end of the session yesterday Joss has planted his foot down and put all the weight through his foot and has felt something go.
"We had it scanned and now have the results which show he has got a fracture of the fifth metatarsal which is likely to put him out for 6 weeks.
"It is a massive blow not only for us but also for Joss because he enjoyed Saturday and was really looking forward to challenge of trying to secure himself a deal until the end of the season."
The Town manager has backed to Joss to bounce back from this as he did with an earlier injury this season: "He had a stress fracture of this toe early on in the season and worked really hard to get himself back to fitness.
"Unfortunately this has happened and it is something that Joss has to deal with and I think he will be strong enough and have a good recovery.
"I spoke to Joss last night and said that we will keep an eye on him and if the situation is that we still need a midfield player when he's fit then we will look at that and maybe do something then."
The loan with Albion will now be cancelled but Simmo still has a number of loan opportunities left to bolster his squad should the need arise: "The loan for Joss now gets cancelled but it's not too much of a concern as we aren't anywhere near to using up our quota of loans.
"It is just a big blow because we've had Joss for 3 or 4 days and now have to send him back to West Brom.
"These things are sent to test us and hopefully we will be strong enough to come through it ok."
The loss of Joss is a big blow to Town and to Simmo's plans after he'd brought in the young midfielder.The plan was to look at him with the aim of keeping him until the end of the season if it was right for both parties.The news now means that Simmo will now have to revisit his plans: "We now have to look around again and there are players out there who we have already identified.
"We don't just look at one player and then forget everything else, but this move was right for us at this particular time.
"It's now back to the drawing board and to more thinking about what we need.
"It is a situation that could have popped up at anytime but it has happened now and we have just got to deal with it and move on."
The cold weather has meant that Town can't use their normal training facilities and have had to move elsewhere. This had no bearing on Joss picking up his injury as Simmo revealed that this could have happened at anytime and on any surface: "It is a difficult time of the year but we are very fortunate in this area as we have some very good facilities to use.
"We went up to the Shrewsbury Sports Village yesterday and it is a fantastic surface there and it is a close to being on grass as you can possibly have.
"No one had any problems at all yesterday and this was such an innocuous injury that could have happened on any surface it is just unfortunate.
"We are lucky as we are not struggling for facilities it's just a case of keeping everyone wrapped up from the cold but also wrapped up in cotton wool to keep them right."
