Josh Vela wants to stay at Shrewsbury Town

Vela, who yesterday marked two years at the club, sees his current terms at Montgomery Waters Meadow expire in the summer.

The 2020/21 Town player of the season lines up against his former club Bolton Wanderers at the Meadow tomorrow in front of another big crowd with well in excess of 7,000 expected for the clash, including a sold-out away end.

Vela, 28, is one of a number of key players, including captain Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Nathanael Ogbeta and experienced duo Elliott Bennett and David Davis, whose contracts expire this summer. Vela, though, expects to extend his stay.

“Obviously I trust the manager. I love being at Shrewsbury and that will get sorted,” the midfielder said of his future.

“I trust him, I love working here, I love working with him and I’m just happy playing my football here.

“This is a club moving in the right direction. There’s only one direction for Shrewsbury, going up and up, so hopefully we can really have a push this season and see where it takes us. Then next season we really want to have a good push, to see if we can (compete).”

Vela, who as a promising teenager was subject of a reported £1million bid from Liverpool, admitted prior to the recent FA Cup tie at Anfield that the contest was an opportunity for Town players to catch the eye, with reference to the final six months of his Town deal.

But it is understood he is settled at Shrewsbury and keen to extend his stay.

Cotterill, whose side are unbeaten in four league games ahead of 16th versus 17th in League One, said on the matter: “We don’t talk about players’ contracts publicly or anything like that.

“They’re contracted until the end of the season, so we can choose when we need to speak to them.

“At this moment in time, they’ve got to carry on doing what they’re doing, whether they are in contract or out of contract, it’s irrelevant to me, that doesn’t make any difference.

“If we had a player in contract, but I knew he wasn’t signing again and he was one of our best players and a good professional, he’d still get in the team.

“We won’t be doing anything with any of them, we’ll be just keeping our heads down with that.”

Cotterill, meanwhile, confirmed existing loan midfielder Khanya Leshabela is set to return to parent club Leicester. Striker Sam Cosgrove is expected to return to Birmingham.