Mark Yates bought in a late loan signing on the eve of the new season today when Gavin Cowan arrived poste haste from Shrewsbury for an initial one month loan.    Another tall defender, he has been bought in as cover basically but will get his chance along with the rest seeing as it's a fresh start for all of them.

He started his career at Braintree Town but soon moved a short distance east to Canvey Island and stayed there for a couple of years before he moved to Shrewsbury for £5,000.

He has never really broken through at the Meadow since he joined the club in March 2005 and only played in thirty games but did get on the scoresheet in one of those appearances.    He was out of the Shrewsbury side for a while with a fractured cheekbone and has had to battle to get his place back in the side.

Mark Yates said after the signing was announced that Gavin would be a good addition to the squad, he's a good defender and very competitive.    He'll go straight into the squad for Saturday's game because we're looking for competition within the squad and the signing of Gavin will give us that extra strength.

Gavin will team up with some other ex Shrews at Aggborough with Jake Sedgemore, Jamie McClen and Stuart Whitehead already here.