ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman believes the club have made the right decision in selling Omar Beckles to League One side Shrewsbury Town for an undisclosed fee.

Paul Hurst's men have had a summer-long interest in the 25-year-old and with the defender having less than a year to run on his Stanley contract, Coleman felt allowing him to leave was best for all parties.

Coleman said: "Shrewsbury have been interested in Omar for quite a while and, after talking to the player at length, he decided he wanted to go.

“With him only having a year left on his contract, we had to take several things into account, the main factor being his desire to play somewhere else.”

Beckles joined Stanley a year ago from non-league side Aldershot and was a Reds regular, making 48 appearances in all competitions. He has played twice this season and scored in the opening day win over Colchester.

And the former Millwall youngster admitted he was happy to join the Shrews, who have made a strong start to the campaign.

“I’m happy to finally get the deal over the line and I’m looking forward to getting going," said Beckles.

“I think I heard about the interest just before the season started and obviously you try your best to be as professional as possible.

"It’s a bit unsettling because obviously I want to play as high as I can, so when that opportunity came I definitely didn’t want to turn it down.

“I’m happy to be here and part of this new challenge. We’ve started off well, so hopefully we can continue that.

"It’s always nice to come into a good atmosphere and I can tell already that it’s a good vibe around the ground, so hopefully we can keep it up.”

Beckles is the third high-profile departure from the Wham Stadium this summer following Shay McCartan, who joined Bradford City, and Matty Pearson, who moved to Barnsley.