Gaffer looks ahead to FA Cup Second Round
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst is urging his players to not take Morecambe lightly in this weekend’s FA Cup tie.
Town sit 43 places above Morecambe in the EFL pyramid, but Paul is well aware of the potential upsets the FA Cup offers and will be looking to stay clear of that on Saturday.
“I think Morecambe themselves have enjoyed some good results in the past in cup competitions, so they will be hoping to cause a minor upset and from our point of view we need to perform well to give ourselves the best chance of going through and getting the result we all want.
“On a consistency level there can be a difference (between League One and Two) but it’s on the day and if players turn up with the wrong attitude that can certainly influence the result. You might just come up against a team that are inspired on the day and playing well above what they are capable of on a weekly basis, so we’ve got to be ready.
“Anyone that’s playing full-time football is going to have ability and it’s how often you can produce the best performances. We’ve got to do everything in our power to take care of our own business, put on a performance the same as last weekend and I think if we do that I’d be very surprised if we didn’t win the game.”
Morecambe have struggled this season, scoring only 15 goals in the league, but Hurst had lots of praise for the job Jim Bentley has done over the years.
“I think they’ve got a couple of really experienced players in there”, Paul continued.
“They’ve got Barry Roche, the ‘keeper, who has seemingly been around for many years and Kevin Ellison in particular. McGurk who they’ve brought in has played higher and is a good footballer, so they’ve got threats.
“I know that they probably haven’t won as many as they would have liked this season, but I know Jim hasn’t got a lot of resources to play with there, so I think he’s done a good job over the years in maintaining their league status and on the day they’ve got some players that can produce.
“We have to give them the ultimate respect as always and I will. The danger is that the players say they are and then step out onto the pitch and that’s not the case. We managed to do a very professional job in the end against Aldershot in the first-round, I’m not expecting the same scoreline, but we are certainly looking for the same result.”