Paul Hurst praises mentality of returning Shrewsbury Town defender

Saturday’s 1-1 friendly draw at Brackley Town was Nurse’s first action since suffering a second anterior cruciate ligament injury last July.

The 25-year-old defender, who signed a new two-year contract with Town earlier this year, played the first half in Northamptonshire on his return to action.

Hurst said: “He will be pleased. I am sure there would have been some nerves around when you look at the history of when he had the injury, which was this pre-season game realistically last year.

“Psychologically, that can’t be easy, so I am sure he is delighted to have got that first 45 minutes in terms of playing again.

“I think he is fine. He seemed to get through without having any more issues. The plan was always to take off the three lads at half-time who came off, so there is nothing sinister in that. That was just the workload we wanted to give them.”

Academy striker Jeval Thompson-McKenzie came off the bench to open the scoring early in the second half and then went close to doubling the lead before an own goal from Will Hardeman levelled the scores.

Former Wolves academy keeper Joe Young, currently on trial at Town, then made a smart stop with his legs to prevent Liam Cross winning the match for the National League North hosts.

“It was nice Jeval got a goal,” said Hurst. “There were other performances which were encouraging. Ultimately they stood up to the challenge which was put in front of them. The youngsters did OK. We spoke to them afterwards and asked how they found it.

“The natural difference is the physicality. It is about giving them bits of advice and making clear what our expectations are when they are representing the club.”

New signings George Lloyd, Harrison Biggins and Toto Nsiala were all in action, but Toby Savin and Tommi O’Reilly were not involved, despite taking part in the warm-up.

“With the new lads it is all about them getting comfortable, them understanding what we want from them,” said Hurst. “It is the first small step, as well as the training we are going through.

“It was a typical pre-season game. I saw bits of possession. We are obviously just looking for fitness. We are looking for an understanding of bits we have worked on.”

Town: Young, Winchester (Morris 60), Nsiala (Hardeman 60), Nurse (Cairns 46), Benning (England 60), Bloxham (Whitney 60), Perry (Snook 60), Olayinka (Starkey-Jones 11), Shipley (Thompson-McKenzie 46), Biggins (Nyamwanza 60), Lloyd (Godwin 46).