Gareth Ainsworth still on hunt for Shrewsbury Town additions despite midfielder setback
Gareth Ainsworth says Shrewsbury Town are looking at free agents - but revealed former Wycombe midfielder David Wheeler has turned them down.
Town had hoped to bring in several reinforcements on deadline day, but aside from Vadaine Oliver, who secured a season-long loan deal from Bradford City, they were unable to get players through the door.
With the market now closed, Salop must turn their attention to free agents if Ainsworth wants to strengthen his squad for the final 18 League One games of the season.
The head coach says Shrewsbury have a list of free agents and he is sure they will have a number of them training in Shropshire over the next few weeks.
He said: "There's lots of free agents out there. It's the right time, right place, and the necessity of needing someone.
"There's a list of free agents we've got. We're not just thinking, right, what do we do now? We're actually now looking at next season, believe it or not.
"You have to as a football manager. We've got to start looking at pre-season and next season, and that's the modern game now. As a manager, you prioritise everything.
"All my focus is on Rotherham. If we need another player, there are some free agents out there. They'll be keeping themselves fit.
"We'll have one or two training with us, I'm sure, in the next few weeks because that's what happens at football clubs. I pride myself on getting the best out of players."
With Town not managing to strengthen their squad as much as they would have liked in the final days of the window - attention has now switched to alternative ways to bolster their ranks.
On Wednesday, Wycombe announced experienced midfielder Wheeler had left the Chairboys, with speculation online immediately linking him with a move to Shropshire due to his connection with the Town boss.
The 34-year-old worked with Ainsworth during their time together at Adams Park, but the head coach explained he had spoken to Wheeler and hit a 'brick wall'.
"I know everyone will talk about free agents," he continued. "I'm sure there'll be questions about Jason McCarthy and David Wheeler and people like that 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 think they're both pursuing different things now in their lives, and that's fine. That's their choice.
"Would have loved it. There was one or two more I've worked with before we tried to get, but we are what we are. We're Shrewsbury.
"I am very proud to be Shrewsbury manager. I'm looking forward to it now (the run-in)."
Wheeler made than 200 appearances for Wycombe, and is another former player to be linked with Ainsworth.
McCarthy was linked with Salop before Christmas after he left Adams Park, but he has moved away from playing full-time after getting a coaching job with Brighton's under-21s team.
