Paul Hurst thoughts on the new league fixtu
The Sky Bet League One fixtures are now out and Town’s journey for the next 9 months is all mapped out.
To view the fixtures in full click here > Sky Bet League One 2017/18
ShrewsWeb grabbed a quick word with manager Paul Hurst to get his initial reaction to the fixtures.
“We knew we would get a home game so I was keen to see who we would get, and it’s Northampton”, said Paul.
“We’ve got a couple of fixtures early on against teams who we played at the back end of last season, obviously they will be different squads but we will know a bit about them.
“The Rotherham games stand out for me because of my history with that football club.
“It’s a case of you play everyone and you know there are no easy games but at least we know where we are now.”
The one period that stands out is the Christmas game with the reintroduction of the traditional New Years Day game. This sees Town travel to Wigan on Boxing Day ten Southend on the 29th before welcoming Oldham to Oteley Road on New Years Day.
“The ones that did stand out where the Christmas period which is always a busy time., said Paul.
“To travel to Southend and then two days later play Oldham seems to be a bit of strange decision and a hell of a long journey for us.
“It will certainly test the squad as there is not much turnaround and recovery after a long journey.
“That will be a tough period but there is a lot of football to be played before then and we will have things in place to help us cope with that.”
It is an old football cliché but Sky Bet League One looks to have no easy games next season. The sides who have come down look strong and the ones who have come up look well equipped for the season ahead.
“On the course I’m on we’ve been talking and everyone thinks our league has got stronger this season.’, said Paul.
“We’ve lost big teams like Sheffield United and Bolton but the teams coming down from the Championship are going to have a good chance and coming up you have Portsmouth, Doncaster and Plymouth who are big clubs.
“You look at it and think it will be tough and think about who you can beat but ultimately it isn’t played out on paper.
“Over the course of the season we are going to have to be causing mini upsets and if we can do that we can have a successful season.”