Gaffer looks ahead to the trip to the Cobblers
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst believes it will be a fight to the end to keep Town in League One.Hurst’s side take on Northampton on Monday and will be looking to pick up a win on the road for the first time since February.
Town picked up a point against Walsall on Friday and Paul is hopeful that it will be a good point come the end of the season.
“I said after the game that we are not sure how good a point it is yet, but it won't be long to find out now”, Hurst told ShrewsWeb.
“I think the first 60 to 65 minutes wasn't good. I think we had a couple of decent little moves. Shaun (Whalley) had one where he was reaching for the shot. We had a chance in the first minute form Stef and the ball from Louis into Shaun for the header.
“But, overall I was disappointed in the fact that we seemed to be on the back foot. We didn’t seem to be particularly positive in our play and it looked like there were nerves out there
“They say goals change games and it certainly did. Suddenly it was as though a bit of belief and confidence had been injected into the players.
“I said after the game that the crowd were outstanding and that was backed up by talking to Sharpy (former Town captain Ian Sharps) afterwards and he said that was pretty much as good as he’s heard it.
“So, that’s pleasing that we’ve still got that positivity around and we need them to be part of it and they certainly helped the players against Walsall.”
Hurst went with the same eleven against Walsall that had beaten Rochdale previously, but he admitted that he will look at the whole squad to make sure he has the best team available on the day.
“I think we will look at the players today and see how they are”, said Paul.
“There were a few knocks, but I don’t think anything that will rule people out. It’s about trying to get the decisions right in terms of having people that are close to their best physically going into the game because we’ve got to put in a big effort.
“I think Northampton will be looking at the game and thinking that this is the one that we win to make us 100% safe, so we know that they are going to be up for it and we’ve got to match that.
“They’ve changed the system slightly a couple of times. I think we’ve got an idea of how they will go against us and we’ve got to be up for that physical side of the game, which they certainly have and then try and play some football if possible.”
“But, I’m not going there with my entertainment head on - as in thinking ‘ooh we played some pretty football there but we lost’ - it’s about whatever it takes now and a big part of that is being up for the fight, not letting the nerves get the better of you and hopefully coming away with a positive result.”
Town currently sit two points above the League One drop zone, but win, lose or draw, Paul believes his side will still have plenty to fight for between now and the 30th April.
“It’s a strange one for me in that there are only three games to go, but the end of the season still feels a long way away”, Hurst said.
“Nothing is really clearing up when we talk about results. I think no matter what the results are nothing is going to be much clearer on Monday either.
“You can put yourself in a better position and if results go well elsewhere, things can look a lot better, but at the same time nothing is going to be done and worst case and everything goes against us, we’ve still got a chance.
“I think it’s going to go down to the wire realistically and it probably doesn’t help people’s health and few more grey hairs along the way, but it is what it is and we just want to keep fighting.”