SHALEUM LOGAN heads into the new season this weekend aiming to establish himself as a regular first-team player with Tranmere.

The 21-year-old full-back will be spending the whole of the League One campaign long-term loan with Rovers from Manchester City – and he wants to make every match count.

Logan said: “The aim is to build up my experience by getting a good stack of games under my belt. If I can play well then hopefully things will start happening for me over the coming year.”

Logan has already played in the Premier League for City in a game against Portsmouth two years ago after progressing through the Academy system at Eastlands.

He’s also played matches in the Championship and League Two in loan spells with Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Stockport over the last two seasons.

But the youngster’s total first-team experience adds up to 19 league and cup games – and that’s a number he wants to plush upwards as quickly as possible.

Logan accepts that the prospects of forcing his way into the City team grow more remote by the day now that manager Mark Hughes has the financial resources to recruit the most expensive players in the world transfer market.

“I am not going to get too many opportunities in the first-team at City now,” Logan said.

“Looking at how things developed last season, the plan was to get out this season and play somewhere on loan. That’s what this year is about for me.

“Tranmere came up. They are not too far from where I live in Manchester and they have a reputation as a good club.

“My team-mate at City, Joe Hart, played here on loan a few years ago and said it was a good set up. So I had no worries about coming here.”

Logan added: “I’ve played in three of the four divisions already, so I’m looking forward to finding what it’s like in League One.”

After a fortnight of training and a trio of friendly matches, Logan is already finding that manager John Barnes wants Tranmere to play a passing game that is a long way removed from the direct approach he often encountered in the lower divisions.

Logan said: “When people talk about lower division football, they automatically think about the ball being booted up front to a big tall striker. That’s not what you find here. In the games I’ve played so far, I can think of only about three occasions when the goalkeeper knocked his clearance over the halfway line.

“John Barnes wants us to play our way out from the back and I’m enjoying it. That’s why the game is called football.”

Logan is also adjusting to the numbers game Prenton Park. He is one of two long-term loan signings supporting a squad of 16 permanent professionals on the Rovers books – seven of whom were teenagers.

He said: “At City I was one of 35 pros. It was hard enough to get into an 11-a-side game on the training ground, never mind get on the team sheet on Saturday. Here, if I’m fit, I have a chance of being involved every week.”