Steve Cotterill previews Town's opening Sky Bet League One fixture with Burton Albion.
Shrewsbury Town welcome Burton Albion to Montgomery Waters Meadow this Saturday for the opening Sky Bet League One fixture of the 2021/22 season.
After a perfect record in pre-season, Steve Cotterill's men will be looking to kick off the season with a win over Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's Brewers.
Town's Manager is expecting a stern test from the Staffordshire-based outfit and is thrilled to be welcoming the Salop family back to Montgomery Waters Meadow.
On welcoming Salop fans home:
"Everyone has been looking forward to it," said Town's manager. "The lads are looking forward to it after a tough pre-season. It's quite eery playing in empty stadiums so hopefully it will feel like normal again.
"The lads have done really well and everyone has trained incredibly hard. We will have a couple of lads who are behind a little bit but that's down to a few knocks and people being away. Everyone's effort has been incredible really."
On the test of Burton:
"The first thing to do is make sure you are fit and ready. This week has been slightly tapered down and it starts to become more tactical now. For the weeks that we've had, a lot have had an emphasis on fitness. We've tried to blend in the new lads with the players that were already here.
"We've looked at Burton just like they would have looked at us through pre-season. Jimmy was successful there before and I don't see any reason why he can't be successful again. He's had a really good start when you look at where he picked them up from last season.
"I'm sure Burton will have a decent season but the main focus for the opening fixture has to be on us and what we do. We know their strengths and we'll do our best to combat that."
