Gaffer looks ahead to playing Rochdale
Shrewsbury Town Manager Paul Hurst is expecting a difficult test as Rochdale visit the Greenhous Meadow on Saturday.Town will be looking to climb out of the relegation zone with a win and face a Rochdale side that currently sit 8th in League One.
Town were beaten in controversial fashion by Millwall on Tuesday night, but Paul believes he saw enough in that game to suggest Town aren’t far away from getting a good result.
“I wouldn’t say we need to make up for Tuesday, but it’s a chance to get a result,” Hurst told the Press.
“With each game that goes by games are running out, so we have somehow got to get the points and that is the next opportunity against a Rochdale team that I really like in truth, so it won’t be an easy game.
“But, we’ve got to do a lot of what we did against Millwall in truth. When you look at all the stats from that games we were more than a match and realistically we can’t affect the two goals.
“In the end we have lost a game because of two decisions and that’s not down to effort or quality, so you have to look at the bigger picture.
“In the end it’s a scoreline and I get that, but the second half in particular we were certainly on the front foot and had a lot more of the game than Millwall had.”
Rochdale have enjoyed another good season under Keith Hill and Paul admitted that they are a side that impress him.
“I remember when we played them first time and we spoke about how they commit men forward and the energy that they play with and from watching the games prior to Saturday, they haven’t changed”, said Paul.
“They are just outside the play-off spots and they still have a slight chance. They had one spell where they struggled, but either side of that they have showed their quality and I think when we played them they were third or fourth at the end of December.
“They’ve got some very good individuals and I think in Ian Henderson they’ve got somebody who is arguably as good as anything in the league.
“He maybe goes under the radar slightly because he’s not playing for a so called big name club, but other than that he’s been an excellent servant for them and one that we will have to keep our eye on.”
Meanwhile, Paul confirmed that a couple of faces are likely to be missing on Saturday after they went off with injuries on Tuesday night.
“We have taken a hit compared to our preparation for other weeks”, said Hurst.
“Tyler’s hurt his hamstring. Joe Riley’s hip is still sore. Stevie Humphrys is ill, so we will have to see if that is a 24 hour thing or not.
“Ryan Yates we do get back from suspension, so that obviously helps the squad, but it’s that time of the season where your squad is going to be tested and it just feels like we are getting quite a few challenges thrown down in front of us.
“But, I do believe that when that happens it makes the feeling even better when we do win, so we’ve got to strive for that.”