Shrewsbury strikers told to step in for Callum Lang

Shrewsbury’s on-loan Wigan striker Lang, 21, limped out of last weekend’s win at Tranmere and Ricketts admitted the signs do not look good.

Lang was expected to discover the full extent of the injury from a specialist yesterday and looks set for a spell on the sidelines.

But boss Ricketts does have a number of options in attacking areas, including last season’s top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie and Jason Cummings, who both netted against Newcastle Under-23s in the EFL Trophy.

“It’ll be hugely frustrating for him, but this is football,” Ricketts said of Lang’s setback after the striker had enjoyed an eye-catchng start to life at Town.

“You get injuries, unfortunately, and he’s picked one up. He’s a player who plays with his heart on his sleeve, he gives everything out on the pitch physically.

“I think that’s why the fans have bought into him because you see his all-out efforts.

“He’s obviously brought quality into that too with goals. It’s disappointing but it means it gives plenty of other players the opportunity.”

Okenabirhie made his first start since the second week of the season after overcoming a hamstring injury that had seen him sidelined for more than a month.

The striker got Town up and running in the Trophy win with a sharp finish from the edge of the box.

“I thought Fey did well. It was a really good 90 minutes. He’s not played for a long time due to injury,” Ricketts added.

”It was important to get as much into him as we could while we build up his fitness. He’s definitely not 100 per cent match fit, but it did him the world of good.

“In terms of finishing he’s looked really sharp (in training) for a week or two. His finishing is excellent.

“It’s making sure he gets 100 per cent match fit where he can be a threat for a whole game.

“A big part was getting minutes into players in a potential banana skin. We had a number of players who hadn’t played for a number of weeks. We got the players through with no injury concerns.”