Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow’s game at home to Ipswich Town.
Both sides are looking to bounce back from defeats last weekend as Salop lost out by two goals to nil away at MK Dons and Ipswich were beaten at home by Cambridge United.
Tomorrow also marks Community Day at Shrewsbury Town, and the good work they do in Shrewsbury will be on show throughout the day.
The Salop manager discussed the game, Ipswich’s new manager Kieran McKenna, and Josh Vela's contribution to the squad so far.
On the game:
“It’s a game we’re looking forward to really. They’re a fantastic club, Ipswich, with great tradition and they were very kind to us over there when we had the incident with Ryan Bowman. I’ve thanked Ipswich and their medical team and their doctor this week and I think that was really important. I thought the way we were looked after over there by Paul Cook and his staff at the time – obviously, now it’s Kieran [McKenna] and his staff – was brilliant, [they were] really accommodating towards Ryan and I can’t speak highly enough of them on that.
“I think they’ve got very good players; that’s what they have. They went out in the summer and they spent enough to win the league in my opinion, they went out and they could have their pick in the summer. Obviously, that hasn’t been going according to plan and Paul ended up losing his job and now Kieran [McKenna] is in charge and he has to take up the baton. I just think they’re a very good team and no matter who is in charge, they’ll always be a force to be reckoned with in this league. In my younger days, I knew Ipswich as a top-flight side and they’ve always been a great club; they’re a Championship club at minimum.
“[The role of assistant manager is] very different [to that of a manager] because you have to be the players’ friend and you have to be able to coach them and gain respect when you’re an assistant, but when you’re the manager you have to do a little bit more prodding and poking from time to time so it’s a very different role. That’s not to say you can’t succeed at both, Chris Hughton did very well when he went from being an assistant to being a manager and I’m sure there are quite a few others I could think of if we had more time but he’s [Kieran McKenna] early on in his managerial career so good luck to him. I don’t know him – this will be my first time meeting him – but yeah good luck to him except on Saturday of course!
“[Ethan Ebanks-Landell’s knee injury is] to be assessed later but yes, everybody else is okay.”
On Josh Vela:
“[He’s had a] stop-start [season] just because of the injury and then he ended up getting sent off so yeah, that hasn’t been ideal for Josh this season. It’s probably not as good as last season for him but I think there has been more competition for what you would call the outstanding player at this football club which is a good thing. He’s a huge part of the team and a very valued member; I like him as a lad, I like him as a member, I like what he brings to the team such as his energy and his never-say-die attitude so yeah, he’s a huge part of it but I would say his season has been stop-start.”
