Gaffer looks forward to facing table-toppers
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst believes his side are taking on the best that League One has to offer when they face Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day.
Wigan are currently top of Sky Bet League One having scored more goals and conceded fewer than any side in the division this season.
“We know that it’s a really tough game against the team, which I’ve said for a long time, are the best team in the league”, Paul said.
“You want to be involved in big games. Last season we had big games for the reasons we didn’t want, this season they are big games for the right reasons at the right end of the league and going up against arguably the best team in the league.
“That is a great challenge for us and one that the players should thrive to be involved in but we know that that will be tough because of the way they play. But, we managed it once and it would be fantastic is we could do the double over them.”
That 1-0 win back in September was a victory that got many people talking about that Shrewsbury could achieve this season and Paul admitted that he will use it as inspiration.
“It will certainly be mentioned to the players, but it will also be mentioned that they will be looking to put that right so we better be on our toes”, Hurst said.
“It was a big win at the time and I think it helped build confidence and belief, so we will be looking to cause another upset and there’s no better day to do that than on Boxing Day.”
With the likes of Will Grigg, Nick Powell and Michael Jacobs in their frontline it perhaps comes as no surprise that they have scored over 40 goals already this season and Hurst believes many are capable of playing in the Championship.
“They’ve got good players all over the pitch”, said Paul.
“In midfield with Sam Morsy and (Lee) Evans they’ve got players that have played higher and I think they need to get promoted this season otherwise Wigan won’t hold onto a lot of players because they are capable of playing in the Championship.
“So, it is a challenge but one that we will look forward too.”