Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst explains Max Mata's loan move

Mata only joined Shrewsbury Town in the summer from the League of Ireland side, signing a three-year deal in Shropshire, but he has found regular minutes hard to come by.

He has made 11 starts and 11 substitute appearances in League One this season, which has seen him score just one goal.

And his loan spell, which will see the New Zealand international stay with Sligo for the rest of the campaign, is a great chance for him to get some minutes, according to Hurst.

“I think just an opportunity there for Max to go and get some games and hopefully enjoy his football and get a bit of confidence back,” the head coach said.

“Although it has not been long, I had a chat with him, and I think he was open about the fact his confidence was not at the level he would really like and since I have come with the system we played, etc, I have not found a place to give him minutes and opportunities and that is where it is.

“In Max’s case, he obviously had a very successful spell there before.

“I am hoping that he can go there and start playing. We will monitor how he is getting on, and then it will get to the end of the season, we will draw a line under it and go from there.

“He has obviously got New Zealand coming up as well with games there so I think it is good for him to get playing some football.”

Shrewsbury have been crippled by injuries so far this season, but since Hurst has taken charge only George Nurse and Tom Flanagan are in the treatment room.

That means the head coach has had to make some tough calls without seeing players play in games.

He said: “It has been difficult, we spoke the other day about almost trying to arrange a game potentially because some of the lads, who I have seen in training, and that is where it starts, but maybe that can be very different at times.

“You may train and play in smaller areas than on bigger pictures and that does not suit everyone.

“From that point of view, I have to make decisions that I feel are right, and some of them could do with that opportunity.”