Gaffer looks ahead to the visit of Bristol Rovers
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst wants his side to show fight in the face of adversity when they take on Bristol Rovers on Saturday.Town’s squad is depleted after picking up three suspensions in the game against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.
Hurst will be without 5 players for the game against Bristol Rovers, whilst another two aren’t fit enough to start and he admitted to being down to the bare bones.
“It’s a case of rolling our sleeves up and getting on with it, but there’s no doubt that we are depleted and realistically the players we are missing are big losses,” Hurst told the Press.
“Three lads are suspended from the other night. Ryan McGivern injured last Saturday and prior to that we’d lost AJ who won’t be fit for the weekend. So, there’s five there alone.
“If you add Joe Riley to that who’s just having a little bit of an issue with his knee and is realistically nowhere near fit to start.
“Shaun Whalley as well, who’s not fit to start a game. That’s 7 players there that you could argue would make the starting line-up.
Despite the lack of players Paul doesn’t want any excuses and wants to stay positive.
“We’ve got to go into it positive,” said Paul.
“There’s no point getting the white flag out, but it has been made tougher. I’m not trying to get the excuses in already, but three players we are missing through suspension have all be major players for us down the spine of the team.
“If you take that out of any side in this league I dare say they would find it tougher. Some are better equipped than others, but for the position we are in, it would be nice to have those available to us.”
Bristol Rovers are a side Paul knows well having faced them in the Conference Play-Off final 2 years ago and he is expecting the toughest home test of his tenure to date.
“We’ve got roll our sleeves up and have a go,” Hurst said.
“I know Darrell very well. I know Bristol Rovers very well. There hasn’t been mass changes in fairness to him from getting promoted.
“He’s done a fantastic job there. Whether they can mount a play-off push, he’s in a much better place to know, but deep down I’m sure that’s what he’s hoping for. Whether that’s realistic I’m not sure.
“They got promoted on the last day of last season and they are now more than holding their own in League One.
“It will be a tough game on Saturday and it would be nice if we could get one over him, but we will certainly share a drink afterwards and wish each other a good Christmas.”