Assistant boss looks ahead to local derby
Shrewsbury Town Assistant Manager Chris Doig has urged the players to forget about Wembley and concentrate on the league campaign.
Town booked their spot in the Checkatrade Trophy final with a 1-0 win over Yeovil Town on Tuesday night, but have half-a-dozen games before the final, starting on Saturday against Walsall.
“The next game is the most important”, said Chris.
“Tuesday has been and gone. As good as it was, it’s in the past now and we move onto the most important thing, which is the league. It’s a derby game as well, which could help. We certainly haven’t beaten Walsall in our time here, so we need to put that right.”
Walsall have already taken four points off Town in two competitions this season, so Chris is well aware of the threats they carry.
“They are a good side on their day”, Doig said.
“They’ve got some good players, they are well organised, they work hard, so we know we are in for a difficult game, but we’ve got to focus on ourselves, make sure we are physically and mentally ready for the game, go about our business in the right way and hopefully that will get us the result.
“They’ve got individual players that can cause you problems, Oztumer being the obvious one. Morris in midfield as well, who has the ability to score from distance. They’ve also got Ngoy upfront who’s a handful and works hard, so they’ve got goals from different areas of the pitch, but I think their team spirit and collectiveness as a group is probably their biggest attribute.”
Just over 35 miles separate the two clubs and Doig understands the significance of this fixture for fans.
“We know how important it is to the fans”, Chris said.
“It’s a result that they will want to win but we want to win every game, so the fact it’s a derby doesn’t put more on it for us as such. Obviously it has extra significance for fans, they want bragging rights and we get that, but for us it’s three points, so nothing changes.”