Shrewsbury Town

Gaffer looks ahead to the Play-Off Final at Wembley

Paul Hurst and his team travel to Wembley on Sunday to face Rotherham United in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final.

Paul is expecting a tough game from his former club, but feels his side have enough to get the win for Shrewsbury Town. “I guess it’s me against my former club, but ultimately it’s not about me. It’s about the players”, said Hurst.

“I think we’re seen as a physical team, from that point of view there are some similarities between the two. We both have very committed players, very honest and hard working. Traits that I know Paul Warne will be proud of to have in his team.

“We have played games where we have run over the top of them and had too much of a strong will for them. I don’t think that will happen on Sunday. You would expect a tight game with everything considered, including previous meetings and records.

“We have got to be fully committed and put on a good performance to have a chance of winning that game and ultimately winning promotion.”

Hurst feels his team and defence will have to be on top of their game if they are to nullify Rotherham’s quality in set pieces and direct play. “The players will be told, whether they stand up to it is different. You could play them 10 times and maybe eight times they stand up to it and a couple of others they don’t”, said Paul.

“They’ll have the information, they will know the markers and all of that. It is a very difficult thing to defend, particularly their long throw. We score a lot from set plays but we had one spell where we conceded a few to many.

“Overall we have done pretty well but we’re certainly going to have to be switched on and defend those long throws and set plays well, if we are going to give ourselves a chance.”

Paul knows the day will soon be upon his side but feels his team have prepared well for the occasion.  “Today speaking to the press brings it closer. We have planned training and we know what we are going to be doing. It’s a little bit to early to be getting too excited yet”, said Paul.

“Before that we are trying to keep everything as normal as possible, as if it were any other game which we know it’s not.  Once we get to the hotel, I think you’ll sense from the players the mood, but we want it to be as normal as possible.”