Five talking points from Shrewsbury Town's win against Aston Villa

New boys in encouraging cameo

Five started from the off and four emerged from the bench. Now all, other than Carlton Morris, of Paul Hurst's nine additions have enjoyed two outings and offered a glimpse at their encouraging potential.

Hurst overhaul this summer was going to be extra significant as he went about truly shaping his squad for a first time.

More business is unquestionably still to come but the new boys in blue and amber are hopefully showing the start of things to come.

Goals elsewhere

Town look short in striking options at the moment with only Lenell John-Lewis and Carlton Morris out-and-out strikers.

AJ Leitch-Smith has found himself on Hurst's unwanted list.

Hurst hasn't completely ruled out more strikers and some supporters have seen this as a priority.

The boss has pointed to input from further back, with Louis Dodds, Arthur Gnahoua, Shaun Whalley, Jon Nolan, Alex Rodman and Dan James all battling it out for positions out wide and in attacking midfield.

Gnahoua netted impressively from the bench and Dodds and Nolan went close. The six mentioned must chip in.

Dean Henderson

Jayson Leutwiler appears to have been frozen out as Hurst secured the services of Henderson and Craig MacGillivray.

Manchester United loanee Henderson has taken the No.1 shirt in the two opening English-based friendlies and performed well.

Most notable from his display against Villa was four or five confident and clean aerial takes with Villa players bearing down on him.

Leutwiler losing his first-team spot may not be popular across the board but Old Trafford prospect Henderson looks talented.

Pitch size

It wasn't a touch of sunstroke that made the Meadow pitch seem larger.

It has, under the instruction of Hurst, been made significantly bigger.

Last summer former boss Micky Mellon opted to decrease the size of the Meadow turf to 110 x 72 yards, similar to much of League One.

But Town's current boss, known for encouraging width, instructed ground staff to make the surface 'as big as possible'.

Having been totally relaid this summer following the Sir Rod Stewart concert, it is back to the old 115 x 75 yards hopefully allowing for some flying wing play.

Emergence of a Cypriot

Nobody had heard of Christos Shelis before Town headed to Portugal but three appearances since have put him on the map.

The 17-year-old Cyprus youth international joined Hurst from Grimsby and featured in Town's youth team towards the end of 2015/16.

After impressing in training the centre-back received the Portugal call and has since featured at Brackley and against Villa.

Filling in for the injured Joe Riley at right-back, where Town desperately need to secure a signing, Shelis – a centre-half by trade – impressed the home crowd with his commitment.