Gaffer looks ahead to the trip to Rochdale
Shrewsbury Town Boss Paul Hurst is hoping his Shrewsbury Town side can get back to winning ways when they face Rochdale on Friday evening.Dale currently sit 4th in League One and are enjoying one of the best seasons in their history.
Hurst was disappointed to lose at Bolton last time out and having spoken to the Referee’s Assessor he confirmed that Town should have been given a penalty.
“I spoke to the referee and he gave me his version of events”, Paul told ShrewsWeb.
“He felt that he was in a good position to make the call. I would still disagree with that as I don’t think he could have had a better view than the assistant.
“It’s not an easy job, but on that occasion I just felt the wrong decision was made and having spoken to the assessor since I think we are all in agreement now that it should have been a penalty.”
Rochdale are currently unbeaten at home this season and Hurst believes they will provide a tough test despite being a relatively small side at this level.
“I think they show that it’s not simply down to the clubs with the biggest names and the biggest budgets”, Hurst said.
“They’ve got some very good players and I’ve certainly been impressed when I’ve watched them. They’ve got lots of energy about them, but also some quality as well and it gives hope to others that maybe haven’t got the riches that your Sheffield United’s and Bolton’s certainly have.
“They have decent players that are willing to work together. Having done my homework on them they feel like they have a good squad now, not just a starting eleven. They’ve got a real strength in depth and when I looked at their starting line-up and the rest of the squad there are probably some players on the bench that would expect to be in that team.
“I’m sure they will be confident of beating anyone, but for us it’s about ending a record and we know that we will have to be very good if we are to have any chance of doing that.”
Following on from Burton’s success last season, Rochdale have been this season’s surprise package and Paul believes it gives hope to all teams at this level.
“You’ve got to dream and believe”, said Paul.
“Money does help, there’s no doubt about that, but you have to make up for it in other ways. For ourselves that is about having a nice training ground, a nice ground and hopefully getting players that are value for money and are hungry and want to do well.
“That’s what their squad looks like to me. Yes they’ve got some older players, but they’ve also got other lads that are starting their careers realistically and might be going up the ladder, whether that’s with Rochdale or elsewhere.
“At the start of the season you all start on the same points and you have to try and get as many as possible with what you’ve got and for me the ambition is always to do the best we can. If we can achieve our aims this season, then next season hopefully we can improve.”