Gaffer looks ahead to FA Cup tie
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst has admitted he wants to do well in this season’s FA Cup as he looks ahead to the first round.
The League One leaders take on National League side Aldershot Town on Saturday and Hurst confessed that it’s a competition he would like to progress in.
“I think growing up the FA Cup was always a big deal and I always looked forward to watching it on TV. It’s lost some of its appeal to some people, but I think for a lot of the clubs that are in it at this stage the dream is to get into that third round and get a plumb tie, or have an even better run.
“For me as a manager it is something that I would love to do well in and for the club it generates some much needed income, so we will be taking it seriously, I can assure people that.”
The first task comes in the form of Gary Waddock’s Aldershot side and Paul is expecting a difficult game against one of the best teams in non-league.
“I think it will be a good game of football, they like to pass the ball well”, Hurst said.
“I think Gary’s trying to show that you can get out the Conference playing good football, which is sometimes argued against. They just need to find a bit of consistency, but then every team in that league does by the looks of it.
“From what I’ve seen of them they look a good team, especially in possession of the ball, and I think they will have spells in the game because they’ve got players that are technically good enough to take care of the football.
“We know it will be tough, but the other side of that is that we are at home, we’ve been going well ourselves and there’s no doubt that we will go into this game as favourites.”
Injuries and suspensions mean that Town’s squad is starting to be pushed to its limits, but Hurst won’t be playing a weakened team this weekend.
“It’s the FA Cup and I want to progress in it”, Paul said.
“It won’t be a time for me to experiment, it will be a strong side and it’s another test for the players. We’ve got quite a lot of lads in our ranks that have come from non-league, so I’m hoping that will benefit us because they understand that they will be going up against some good players.
“I’m hoping that we approach it with the right attitude - that’s always a big part when you are playing teams that are below you in the pyramid. It’s all about trying to win the game and making sure we are in the draw on Monday.”