ShrewsWeb confirmed the news a couple of weeks ago that Omer Riza was currently on trial at the club. We took a few minutes of Omer's time to have a chat about how things were going for him at Town.

Riza started his career as a trainee at Arsenal before spells at Den Haag (loan), West Ham, Barnet (loan) and then a successful spell at Cambridge United. After his time at Cambridge he moved to Turkey and played for both Denizlispor and Trabzonspor in the Super League.

He's been training with Town since the start of this year and comes into a club which is a lot different than the one he played against for Cambridge: "It's nice to be here as it's been a long 12 months for me, and I'm glad to be back in England training and hope to be playing again soon.

"I've had a good look at the club and the Gaffer and Macca have had a good look at me.

"The set-up is really good here and a lot different to when I played against Shrewsbury for Cambridge United back in 2002/03 at the old stadium.

"If you look at the differences between then and now they're huge and you can see the club's trying to press on and they have everything behind them to do that."

After his successful time with Cambridge, Omer had the chance to move to a number of clubs but in the end decided to move abroad. He got the chance to join up with Denizlispor before a move to one of the bigger clubs in Turkey; Trabzonspor. It was a successful period for Omer with him playing in front of big crowds and in Europe: "I had a good season at Cambridge United and had a good partnership with Dave Kitson and managed to score 18 goals.

"I got offered a new deal at Cambridge and had a couple of other offers but made the decision to move abroad and play in the Super League in Turkey.

"I went to Denizlispor and had a good two and a half years there before moving to Trabzonspor who are one of the top four clubs in Turkey.

"The Super League is considered to be one of the top 10 leagues in the world, there are a lot of good quality players in the league and they are spending a lot of money on the league.

"It was a good level to play at, and to have the opportunity to play in Europe was great.

"I had several good years there and got called into the B national team but the final year was a bit of a struggle."

The last year though wasn't the best and in the end he walked away from Trabzonspor and incurred a ban from the Turkish FA: "I'd played under all the foreign managers with no problem, but when a Turkish manager came in, he seemed to have a bit of a problem.

"We had a few little disputes and then in January 2008 I walked out on the club and it was just cause as far as I'm concerned.

"It's a problem which is still going through all the courts as we speak. It's sad that it had to end the way that it did, but I'm back in England now and looking to give my career another kick start."

Then came the chance to join up with Shrewsbury Town after discussions between Paul Simpson and Omer's agent: "The Gaffer knew from when I was playing at Cambridge and my agent, who is my father, managed to speak to the Gaffer and he said to come down.

"He knew I was out of a club so wanted to have a look at me in training and I've been here ever since."

At the present time Omer is doing all the day to day training at the club but his ban means that he can't take part in any competitive games. There is still some uncertainty over how long the ban has to run and it is something that Omer and his advisors are looking to appeal: "It's been really tough for me over the last 12 months if I have to be honest.

"For 8 of those months I've been running on my own everyday, and working in the gym, but everyone knows that that isn't enough for a footballer.

"I had been training down at some amateur clubs that my friends are managers of to keep fit to try and keep the weight off.

"Coming to Shrewsbury has really helped with my conditioning as I was really behind on sharpness and games, but I am still behind on games as I haven't played for about a year.

"I'm getting there and my physical condition is good but I just need to get some games under my belt. That is hard though as the ban means I can't even play in the reserves.

"Apparently from when I've been told the ban has now started and I have a few months left to run unless I can get it overturned, which I'm looking to do."

Omer has been putting the work in on the training field but is itching to get back to competitive match action. He's hoping that he will get the chance before the end of the season, but if not then is looking ahead to next season with Shrewsbury: "I'm raring to go and really want to get playing for Shrewsbury Town.

"We've spoken about things and the most important thing for me is to get back playing.

"Shrewsbury are looking to go places and I think I've definitely got something that I can offer the team a little different. I'm a pacy player who likes to get in behind defences and get at teams.

"I'll keep training and at the moment I'm having to do all the double sessions that the first team are doing as well as all the double sessions that the reserves do.

"If the ban can get lifted and I can get a few games in before the end of the season that will be fantastic for me - and hopefully for the club as well.

"If things go to plan and the club go up, then it will be brilliant to play for the club next season in a division above, and then to press on from there. "