Shrewsbury Town's Carl Winchester: I couldn't wait to get back to club
Carl Winchester says he found a home at Shrewsbury Town last campaign and that is why he decided to sign for the club permanently.
The 30-year-old was signed by Salop on deadline day last summer on a season-long loan deal.
He enjoyed a successful first season at the Meadow playing 42 times for Shrews across all competitions.
And after completing his loan he became a free agent when he did not sign fresh terms with his parent club Sunderland.
Shortly after Town announced Matt Taylor as their new boss Winchester became his first signing – something he said was an easy decision to make after his last spell at the club.
He said: “As soon as I found out there was interest I couldn’t wait to get it signed and get back into the swing of things.
“We’ve had a long time off since I last came but getting back in and around the environment has been great.
“I really enjoyed my time here last season. I think the lads, the staff, everyone helped that out so it was a no-brainer.
“I sat down and spoke to my family in the summer and they told me to go for it so in the end it was an easy decision. As a player, the most important thing I think is to find a home and keep playing football every week. Once you’re playing football every week you’re happy.
“I had that last season and I’m thankful for that and for being brought to the club.”
Salop finished 12th in League One – their second-highest finish in 32 years and Winchester says it is important to work from that base.
“I think it’s important to build on last season” he continued.
“We did really well so it’s important to build on that and keep moving forward. The aim this season it to keep getting better and improve.The lads are here and they know what got us that success which is important. There’s no reason we can’t do better than that here.
“Like I said, most of last season’s players are still here, the core of that group.
“Obviously you lose a few like Penno (Matt Pennington) and Benno (Elliott Bennett) but that’s football at the end of the day. We just want to improve on last season. Injuries killed us, but a lot of the same faces were out there every week so you get that understanding of each other’s game which helps.
“Hopefully more of that’s to come.”
