"He will be coming into that group of players which I see as the young up and coming. But Michael is different, he is more experienced and he will definitely be a good addition to the squad.
"I think that Michael's story is an interesting one with him retiring from football only to realise that he probably retired too early. You normally only get one shot at it and he probably regrets taking a year out although I am sure he had good time well he was doing it.
"It is not always easy to come back to football after a year or so away he'll find it tough initially getting back into the football. But he has kept himself fit.
"He originally joined us in training where he looked fit and I was impressed with his skills so I said to him that if ever he was looking at getting back into football full time bear us in mind"
Although the deals have been agreed in principal, Shirtliff did say though "it's just being a case of crossing the T's and dotting the I's"