Ainsworth 'hits brick wall' in free agent pursuit

Shrewsbury boss Gareth Ainsworth spoke to Jason McCarthy (left) and David Wheeler, who have both had their contracts cancelled at Wycombe

Shrewsbury Town boss Gareth Ainsworth will not be signing former Wycombe Wanderers pair Jason McCarthy and David Wheeler as free agents following their release at Adams Park.

Both had their contracts cancelled by the League One automatic promotion hopefuls prior to Monday's closing of the transfer window - and Ainsworth does still have funds available to him.

He told BBC Radio Shropshire that he actually did try to bring in defender McCarthy and midfielder Wheeler, prior to Monday's deadline but was unable to strike an agreement.

"I know everyone will talk about free agents," he said. "I'm sure there will be questions about Jason McCarthy and David Wheeler, who've cancelled their contracts at Wycombe.

"I'll have to say now, before those questions come, that I spoke to both of them, tried to get both here, and again hit a bit of a brick wall.

"I would have loved it, but they're both pursuing different things now in their lives, and that's fine. That's their choice.

"There were one or two more I've worked with before we tried to get, but we are what we are. We're Shrewsbury.

"We had money to spend but I wasnt' going to let it go crazy. There were people going for ridiculous prices.

"And we're happy with what we've got. We beat Mansfield with 10 men last week - and there's no reason why we can't beat any team in this league.

"We've made our ground a very hard place to come - and I love that."

The home wins over leaders Birmingham City, in his first game in charge, and League One's other trans-Atlantic owned titans Wrexham, have raised the bar for Shrewsbury.

And, although they remain seven points adrift of safety going into Saturday's trip to Steve Evans' Rotherham United, Ainsworth remains confident of keeping Town in the third tier for a remarkable 11th straight season.

"We've a real chance of staying up," he said. "I am very proud to be Shrewsbury manager. And I'm looking forward to it now."

Gareth Ainsworth was talking to BBC Radio Shropshire's Mary-Kate Wheeldon