A
19-year-old defender natural centre-half, Craig joins on a month’s loan from
SkyBet League Two side Shrewsbury Town.
The
former Birmingham City youngster signed his first professional deal with
Shrewsbury back in June and has become part of the first team squad this season
featuring as a left-sided player, he can play left of a back three, left-back
or left-wing-back.
Forward
Faal arrives for a month from Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion.
He
experienced his first loan in senior football at Telford’s league rivals
Hereford during the second half of the 2021/22 campaign.
He
made 5 appearances in all competitions for the Bulls, scoring 2 goals.
But
the highlight of Faal's 2021/22 campaign came in the Baggies' Premier League
Cup run as he bagged 3 group-stage goals before netting vital efforts against
Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the knockout stages of the competition.
The
Gambian's looping header helped the Baggies defeat the Cottagers 2-1 in the
semi-final, before a spectacular strike in added time against Wanderers helped
send the final to penalties - which Richard Beale's men won to come out as
champions.
Albion
took Faal (pictured) out of local football to become a first-year scholar at the age of
16.
He
is a big presence up front with a bubbly personality and doesn’t fail to make
an impression when involved for the Baggies.
He
made an early impression in the under-23s at the beginning of the 2020/21
campaign, featuring in a number of matches for the club's PL2 side. But he was
a regular fixture in Albion’s under-18 side and enjoyed a prolific season,
scoring 7 goals.
Faal
also helped the young Baggies maintain momentum and confidence during their
2021 FA Youth Cup run after scoring the decisive goal in the 2-1 fourth-round
win over Cardiff City at The Hawthorns.
After
signing professional terms with the club in the summer of 2021, he was in
clinical form during his first full term with the 23s - scoring 5 goals in the
first two months of the campaign and ending the season on double figures in all
competitions.
Faal's
goalscoring exploits were rewarded when he was called-up to train with the
first team under Valérien Ismaël, and the Frenchman handed the attacker his
first senior appearance when he brought him off the bench against Arsenal in
August 2021.
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