The 22-year-old’s move to the club was confirmed on Wednesday and he feels that the decision to turn down Swansea last year and stay at Shrewsbury for another season will reap dividends.
He said, “My agent was talking about me moving to Swansea and I just ended up signing another contract at Shrewsbury two or three weeks into pre-season.
“That had a lot to do with the manager there who had a good chat with me and said in a year’s time I could be going into a first-team set-up instead of an under-21 team.
“I believe that things happen for a reason and I turned down the chance to join a big club then and now I’m sat here after having my first training session with the first-team at a Championship club, so I’m definitely happy I made that decision.”
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“Teams in the Championship tend to get a lot more time on the ball, but they can still hurt you with one pass and a chance is usually a goal at this level.
“In pre-season at Shrewsbury we played Cardiff, Wolves and Birmingham in one week and I played well in all three games.
“When I came off the pitch in each of those games, I said I want to be playing at that standard every single week. Obviously there is added pressure when you play in front of 30,000 people, but that is something I enjoy.
“I always found that I do better in the bigger games against the bigger opponents. I’m hoping that playing at this level will bring out the best in me.”
The defender then looked ahead to the threat which Blackburn will pose and drew upon his previous experience facing Rovers in the Capital One Cup this season; a game which the Shrews won 2-1.
“We played them in the cup and we had a great result there. They’re a good side, but I don’t think there isn’t a good side in this league. Ben Marshall is a good winger who faced us that night and they have the likes of Jordan Rhodes, who will always score a goal.
“Every game at this level is going to be tough, but with the side that we’ve got and the start we’ve made to the season, then I’m sure we’ll be good enough to beat anyone.”
[h=3]ALBION V BLACKBURN ROVERS*
[/h]SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST, KICK-OFF 3PM
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[h=3]ALBION V ROTHERHAM UNITED*
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