John Askey urging Zak Jules to play into his plans

The 21-year-old joined Salop from Reading in 2017 and went on to have loan stints at Chesterfield and Port Vale last season.

But he struggled in both those spells with a hamstring injury ending his time at the Proact Stadium early, while he made just two appearances for the Valiants.

Nevertheless, fans had expected new boss Askey to take a look at Jules in the club’s pre-season friendlies.

The centre-back was not involved in the behind-closed-doors game against Burnley on Tuesday and the friendly at Bristol City last Saturday though.

And he now looks set to miss today’s friendly against Dean Smith’s Brentford.

“All I do is pick on what I see,” Askey said.

“In every game we have played we have taken 20 players, Zak hasn’t fitted into that.

“But at the end of the day everyone plays for their place and Zak is no different.”

Meanwhile, Omar Beckles believes Town will play with a bit more freedom under Askey than they did under Paul Hurst.

However, the 26-year-old insisted Salop will remain defensively strong next year.

“They’re a lovely bunch of staff and not much has changed dramatically to be honest,” the defender said.

“I feel like we’re keeping the same sort of formula.

“There may be a little more sense of freedom in playing, but there’s not that much difference.

“I think we’ve got the players that are good enough to have that freedom as long as we don’t neglect our shape and defensive responsibilities.

“As long as we get the balance it’ll work really well. The freedom looks really good.

“But the same principles remain.

“We’re a hard-working team, hard to break down, leading from the front, have possession in their half and look to get a goal.”