Aaron Wilbraham previews Town's third round Emirates FA Cup clash with Southampton.
Shrewsbury Town's first fixture of 2021 sees the squad head south to take on Southampton in the Emirates FA Cup third round at St. Mary's.
Salop will be looking to cause an upset against the Saints in the hope of facing Arsenal in the next round of the competition.
Town Coach Aaron Wilbraham is looking forward to the occasion and hopes his team can put on a good performance for Steve Cotterill who is unable to attend the fixture due to Covid-19.
An update on Steve Cotterill:
"To start with, it's such a strange atmosphere without the Gaffer being around the place. He's a ball of energy and we have definitely missed him.
"The Gaffer has been really poorly over the last two weeks and was in the Intensive Care Unit over the weekend. He's had a bad case of Covid and it was quite worrying at some points. We're all wishing him well and he is getting better.
"He's starting to crack a couple of jokes and has told me to tell the lads that he'll be watching from his hospital bed. I know he's improving, and that is a massive relief to everyone. It has been a crazy time, to be honest, but he is on the mend."
On Southampton preparations:
"It has been a strange one. We had to shut the training ground down and let everyone who had the virus recover. We re-tested everyone and thankfully everyone is now negative.
"Training has been done by myself and David Longwell. We haven't been able to use the Fitness Coach or the Goalkeeping Coach so it has been difficult. The lads have trained really well since they've been back. It has opened mine and Dave's eyes to see what it's like as a manager.
"Southampton are a great team and are doing well in the Premier League. We are obviously expecting a difficult game away from home but it's a chance for us to go there and prove ourselves against top opposition."
Squad news:
"We've had to let everyone recover from the virus but they came back here in really good shape. They've been looking after themselves with the instructions we set - they came back in and hit the ground running."
Take a look at the Salop match preview ahead of the tie...
