Shrewsbury will 'outperform budget' - Appleton

Michael Appleton won promotion with Oxford United into League One in 2015-16

Shrewsbury Town boss Michael Appleton says he is "very confident" his squad will "outperform" the club's budget for the coming season.

Town are preparing for life back in League Two after last season's struggles when they finished bottom of the third tier and were relegated.

Appleton, 49, ended the campaign as Salop's third manager following the sacking of Paul Hurst in November and sudden departure of his replacement, Gareth Ainsworth, to Gillingham with nine games of the season to go.

"I'm confident next season will be very different to last season," Appleton told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"It's never the be all and end all to get off to a good start but it helps.

"I think over 46 games, if we recruit the sort of players we want to bring in, we certainly won't be having the season we had last year."

Appleton has overseen four new signings so far this summer with Wrexham centre-back Will Boyle joining fellow defenders Sam Stubbs and Tom Anderson and midfielder Sam Clucas at the club.

Relegation could potentially cost Shrewsbury £1m in lost commercial revenue, a further blow to the coffers following a loss of £1.6m for the last recorded financial year to June 2024.

However, in that same period, the club's overall debt was halved from just over £3m in 2022-23.

Whatever restrictions Appleton may have to work under, he is sure the future will be positive.

"The only statement of expectation I'm comfortable saying is that we'll outperform our budget," he said.

"That's something I've always done at every football club I've been at.

"At the start of the season, whatever the budget is, I'm very, very confident we'll outperform it."

Time to 'draw a line in the sand'

Appleton won only one of his nine games in charge as Town went down, but signed a two-year deal as head coach ahead of the final match - a 2-1 home defeat by Crawley.

"It was a very short season for me personally last year and even though the break came at a good time because there had to be a re-set, I was just getting into it and I can't wait to get back at it," he said.

"When I've had the majority of my success it's been because I've stayed at a club for a period of time and, without sounding too much like [former Tottenham head coach] Ange [Postecoglou] I've always been really strong in my second season when I've had a couple of transfer windows."

Appleton says he wants to "draw a line in the sand" on last season and says this term, which starts with a home game against Barrow on 2 August, "will be different".

He added: "It wasn't a great time for the club as there were a few things going on, off the pitch as well as on it, which was maybe a bit distracting.

"I don't want to give excuses and all I can ask is the fans to give us their support which I'm sure they will.

"If we can start well, hopefully we'll get a couple of thousand more through the gate."