Gaffer looks ahead to Shropshire Senior Cup Final
Town Boss Paul Hurst will be going in search of his first piece of silverware as Town manager when his side take on AFC Telford United in the Shropshire Senior Cup Final tomorrow night.Town have won the cup in the last couple of years and Paul admits that he will be playing a relatively strong side as they look to hold onto the trophy.
“Any game you go into you want to win”, Paul told ShrewsWeb.
“Does that mean we are going to play the first team to give us more of a chance? No, but some players from the first team squad will play.
“I think some lads haven’t had any game time for quite a while, so they will use tomorrow night to get those minutes and then they are a step closer in terms of fitness.
“It will be mixed team with some of the youth team as well, but it doesn’t matter what team we put out, we will be looking to win the game.”
Paul confirmed that the players who are out on loan won’t be involved, but believes it’s a big opportunity for the first teamers that are involved to make a case for inclusion in the coming weeks.
“I appreciate that it’s not a league game, which I’m sure these guys want to be part of, but at the same time it will be the first game for quite a few of them for a long time, said Hurst.
“Ultimately, you want to play. Hopefully, they enjoy training to a degree, but games are what matters and it’s another opportunity to give me a nudge in the right direction, or it can go the other way if we don’t approach it in the right manner.
“I’ve said before that I think in general we’ve got an honest group of lads, so hopefully they can prove me right on that front, show the correct attitude and hopefully perform and win the game.
“It’s probably a big ask for them to start tomorrow and then me ask them to play on Friday, but it might just nudge them closer, because at the minute I think we’ve had a mixed bag in terms of personal performances.”
It’s also a big occasion for Town’s youth team players and Hurst is hopeful they will impress against an experienced Telford line-up.
“I don’t want those young players to think that it’s the be-all and end-all and be under masses of pressure, but at the same time there is an element of having to cope with that”, said Paul.
“When you make your debut you have to cope with pressure, but the message will be ‘do what you have been doing, don’t try and be something you’re not, play how you play’.
“Ultimately they’ve been doing pretty well. We know we’ve got some decent young lads and this is a chance at that next level up to show what they can do and I’m looking forward to seeing those lads as well.”