Paul Hurst has agreed a deal to take Shrewsbury duo Toto Nsiala and Jon Nolan to Portman Road, according to HITC.

The pair handed in transfer requests at the New Meadow this week as they try to force a reunion with their former boss at Portman Road.

Both players featured for Hurst at Grimsby Town before joining him at Shrewsbury and now both look likely to unite him for a third time, as he seeks to establish himself as a Championship manager in the biggest role of his career so far.

The duo missed the Shrews opening day defeat at the hands of Bradford City and have been banished from training until the situation is resolved.

Nolan had a wonderful season with Salop, thriving in a free-roaming midfield role as he had done previously at Grimsby Town and driving them to two Wembley outings.

He's also featured for Chesterfield, Stockport, Wrexham and Lincoln City after leaving Everton as a youngster.

Nsiala is also a former Everton youth, he joined Grimsby from Southport, but spent time at Hartlepool after leaving Blundell Park. He also featured for Accrington Stanley and Macclesfield Town before impressing last season in Shropshire.

The Verdict

This is bad news for John Askey at Shrewsbury, the heart has been ripped out of their play-off squad already and losing these too only accentuates those losses.

Neither player has played Championship football, so it does remain to be seen if they can step up once more, but clearly they work well with the manager and if they can make the jump it is more likely to be with a system they know and have embraced before.