JOSH Vela is poised to return to League One with Shrewsbury Town.

The former Wanderers midfielder is unsettled at Hibs and has not played for the Edinburgh club since early November.

Shrews boss Sam Ricketts, who played alongside Vela several times at Bolton, is now ready to sign him on a permanent deal.

Vela made 182 appearances for Wanderers having graduated through an academy system he joined at the age of seven. He scored 13 goals in total, 10 of which came in the promotion campaign in 2016/17.

He left the club after 17 years last summer claiming he wanted a “new challenge” but his time at Hibs has not gone according to plan and although he was a regular under his first manager, Paul Heckingbottom, he has failed to command a regular place under successor, Jack Ross, and has recently been nursing a thigh strain.

Wanderers were due to be playing Shrewsbury this weekend but the Shropshire club’s involvement in the FA Cup means the game has had to be rescheduled. Instead, Vela’s first involvement could come at home to Premier League Liverpool in the fourth round on Sunday.