Cowan honoured to take 'dream job' at Shrewsbury

New Shrewsbury Town head coach Gavin Cowan says returning to the club as boss is a "dream job" and is convinced they can avoid relegation from League Two.

Salop moved quickly to appoint the 44-year-old on Thursday, following the departure of Michael Appleton 24 hours earlier.

The job is Cowan's first in the English Football League (EFL) and comes after a successful two and a half years with National League Brackley Town, where he guided them to promotion from National League North last season.

A former defender, he played for Shrewsbury between March 2005 and January 2007, making 30 appearances, and said he was "honoured and privileged" to now be in charge.

"I'm a Shrewsbury Town fan and any supporter would give their right arm for this job," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I've earned my stripes and am very positive about my capabilities at this level. I know what I'm getting into.

"It's a different level but it's a level I'm confident of tackling."

Cowan said leaving Brackley was "really hard and heart-wrenching" but added he believed the Shrewsbury job could be "life-changing".

"It's the dream job. I'd challenge anyone to turn the job down. It was one I was really proud to take," he said.

Cowan put his success with Brackley down to creating "unity" at the club and wants to try to do the same at Croud Meadow.

"If we can unite the players and the management with the hierarchy and the fans - that is a dream team," he said.

"There's a lot of water gone under the bridge - everybody's suffering because we're not wining games.

"Ultimately I want to get everybody unified, and it starts on Saturday."

Former Shrewsbury and Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards will be part of Cowan's coaching team, along with Cowan's assistant boss at Brackley, Jamie Haynes.

"This is about success and legacy and to give something back," Cowan said.

"It's 20 years since the chairman paid too much money for me when I came here as a player and I want to reward that now!

"This is an occupation but it's more than that. It's about three men who want to give something back to this club."

Cowan inherits a squad struggling for consistency and wins. Salop are two points above the relegation zone having won only five of their 27 games and face the real prospect of losing their EFL status.

Despite having very little time to work with the squad before the weekend's visit of Barnet, Cowan has been impressed by what he has seen.

"We've got a buy-in from the players already," he said.

"It's difficult. The manager goes out, no-one likes to see people lose jobs but they understand football and understand we've got 19 wars to go to now.

"The players will be leaving everything out on the pitch. We understand where we're at but there is more than enough there to stay in the league - but we're in a relegation scrap."