Former loanee Neal joins Shrews

Following the news today that Notts County have completed the signing of Shrewsbury midfielder Ben Davies, the Shrews have moved quickly to replace him with the signing of former Notts loanee Lewis Neal. The left winger spent a month on loan at Meadow Lane last season from Preston North End, but failed to impress in black and white and Ian McParland chose not to keep Neal at the club.

He went on to join Carlisle United on a free transfer, but despite scoring twice as the Cumbrians avoided relegation to League Two, he was released by manager Greg Abbott. Paul Simpson, Neal's former boss at Preston, has now moved to bring him to the New Meadow in his new look Shrewsbury team. While Neal was only at Meadow Lane for a short period, few are going to mourn the fact that it's Davies rather than him who has signed for the Magpies, with NCM remembering Neal touching the ball less than 10 times in his month with Notts.