Callum Lang return a mighty boost for Shrewsbury
Injured Shrewsbury Town striker Callum Lang is on an intense rehabilitation programme to ensure he hits the ground running when fit.
Wigan loanee Lang went under the knife for a broken metatarsal in early October, barely a month into his Shrewsbury career.
He was projected for a new year return and, while not yet training outside at Sundorne Castle, has been stepping up the pace in the gym with Town’s physio staff.
Lang caught the eye in his five Shrewsbury outings and Ricketts admits his 2020 return will feel like a new signing.
“He’s doing really well. It’s hard to tell with metatarsals,” said Ricketts.
“You can treat two players exactly the same way and one will be back in nine weeks and the other could be 15 or 18 weeks in the worst case.
“We’d love to get him back sooner rather than later, but at the same time we don’t want to rush him either.
“He’s working extremely hard, so when he is back in he’s got a base level of fitness already so he can physically be back quicker than just being pain-free.”
“He’s not outside running yet, but you can do a lot of work inside in the gym on cardiovascular to try to keep yourself fit.”
Lang scored once and displaying the hard-working mentality that persuaded Ricketts to work so hard to bring him in on loan on deadline day.
The highly-rated 21-year-old previously enjoyed prolific loans at Morecambe and Oldham.
He is contracted at parent Championship club Wigan until next summer.
Ricketts added: “It’ll be nice to have him back, like signing a new player.
“I think he only played a handful of games for us, as soon as he was in he was out again.
“He’s someone that we were delighted to sign at the time and will be delighted to get back in again.”
