Former Huddersfield defender joins League Two outfit after brief training stint with Northampton

The 31-year-old former Huddersfield Town and Oxford defender spent part of this week with Cobblers at Moulton College but a permanent deal was never on the table and he subsequently headed back to Shrewsbury, where he’s trained for much of the last month, to agree terms.

"He'll bring a lot of quality – no doubt about that," said Shrews boss Michael Appleton. "He can play in numerous positions. One of the biggest words I can use for Josh is reliable - you know exactly what you're getting week in, week out. He's a great character off the pitch."

Having started at Coventry City, Ruffels spent eight seasons with Oxford, making more than 250 appearances. He won promotion from League Two under Appleton in 2015/16 before moving on to Huddersfield in July 2021, spending two seasons in Yorkshire.

"I worked with him a long time at Oxford and we're delighted because I didn't think we'd be able to get someone of his quality," added Appleton. "I'd like to think [it is] because of the relationship we had - he knows me and we've been quite good to him over the last month or so, he's had a couple of weeks with the players. It got to a point where it was like 'we need a decision, we've been patient enough' and we had a bit of a laugh about it and luckily we got him over the line."