Lenell John-Lewis on his move to Shrewsbury Town

County announced yesterday that the 28-year-old, who was out of contract at Rodney Parade, would not be extending his stay in Newport.

John-Lewis signed for the Exiles in the summer of 2015 but his two seasons at the club were both badly affected by serious injuries.

Despite rupturing his hamstring in January 2016, he made 32 appearances in the 2015-2016 season and scored five times.

But a knee injury picked up in a pre-season friendly at Caldicot last July kept him out for the majority of the 2016-17 campaign.

He did, however, return to play a crucial part in the last two games as the Exiles completed the Great Escape, winning a penalty against Notts County on the final day (below).

Exiles boss Michael Flynn has been in discussion with John-Lewis about a possible new deal but the player instead opted to link up again with his former Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst at Shrewsbury.

“It’s a welcome change and very pleasing to be at Shrewsbury”, John-Lewis told ShrewsWeb.

“Re-joining the manager and [assistant] Chris Doig is going to be good for me. I’ve worked well under them before and they know how to get the best out of me.”

John-Lewis has previously played in League One for Bury and scored 20 goals for Grimsby Town in the 2014-2015 season as they reached the National League play-off final.

“I’d love to repeat that, but hard work and honesty is what you get from me,” he said.

“The season when I did get 20 goals felt like a massive bonus to me because I felt like previous to that I hadn’t scored enough.

“I felt like most parts of my game were OK but the goals weren’t coming so hopefully I can repeat that.”

On his injury nightmare with County, John-Lewis added: “I had a tough 10 months, but it was an educational 10 months as well.

“I learnt a lot about the sport and my body and I’ve come out of it a lot stronger and I’m just looking forward to getting started.

“I want to get back into playing football and enjoying my football again.

“Hopefully I will do well for myself, but also do well for the club and that’s why I’m here.”

Shrews boss Hurst is looking forward to working with John-Lewis again after their success at Grimsby.

“He was excellent for us, but unfortunately we lost him at the time,” he told ShrewsWeb.

“League football came calling and having lost in the play-off final we couldn’t offer him that, but he was excellent for us.

“He’s had a difficult couple of seasons with injuries and that is something that we are aware of and we are conscious of, but I think that it’s someone that can come in and be a very good player for us.”

A statement from County reads: "The club would like to thank Lenell for his hard-work and commitment whilst at the club and would like to particularly thank him for his efforts with the County in the Community team for which he won the David Williams Community Award at our annual awards presentation."