Steve Cotterill spoke to the press prior to Saturday's game at Cheltenham.
The boss was born in the Gloucestershire town and enjoyed a hugely successful spell managing the Robins between 1997 and 2002.
Shrewsbury head to Completely-Suzuki Stadium on the back of beating Burton Albion last weekend - a match that saw goalkeeper Marko Marosi make a string of fine saves despite dislocating his finger.
Christian Saydee also netted his second goal in as many games against the Brewers - with the win seeing Town move up to ninth in League One.
And speaking ahead of the trip to his former side, Cotterill discussed those players, the season so far and also gave an update on injured duo Aiden O'Brien and Julien Dacosta.
ON CHELTENHAM:
"It’s always a special place, the place where you were born and you spent your school days.
"The people at Cheltenham will know I’m going back there to win because they will know what I was like when I was there.
"I’m looking forward to going back and seeing a few faces I don’t get to see on a regular basis.
"The club is very dear to my heart, there are still some people who work there that I was probably part and parcel of employing at the time. There are some great people there."
ON EVALUATING THE 10 LEAGUE GAMES SO FAR:
"Not bad. It's been not bad really.
"I don’t think there is anything to get carried away about - I won’t be getting carried away anyway.
"We have done okay which is a credit to the players.
"They are a new group – 40 or 50 per cent of the team is new so for them to all gel is a credit to the new boys that have come in, the way they have found their feet.
"And it’s also a credit to the other boys for the way they have accepted them.
"As a group they have done really well. They get on great which is really important. Wherever they are, they are all together. We haven’t got a pocket here, a pocket there. They mingle brilliantly, they are a really good group – really good."
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A LONG-TERM PLAN:
"I think every football job is a long-term plan but not everyone gets the opportunity for it to be a long-term plan.
"You have to have a short-term plan. We have always had a short-term plan but with the idea of being here long enough to have a long-term plan.
"For every long-term plan, there has to be a short-term plan.
"There have been some things along the way over the past few years that I’ve had to do but perhaps didn’t want to do.
"I think there will be things along the way, even this season, there have been things I’ve had to do but not necessarily wanted to.
"I just think the club is evolving nicely. It’s evolving nicely."
ON AIDEN O’BRIEN, JULIEN DACOSTA AND ELLIOTT BENNETT MAKING THE GROUP EVEN STRONGER:
"You get a few set-backs along the way, a few bumps in the road – we have already had a bump in the road with Dan Udoh.
"I think we have done okay, but if you imagine having Dan fit now with what we are going into – we would be even stronger.
"But you get these set-backs, it’s how you deal with them. They are going to happen, we just have to deal with them as best we can.
"But with Elliott getting back on the pitch last week, that was important. Aiden O’Brien is getting closer as is Julien Dacosta.
"What we have to do is make sure these guys don’t break down. That is really important for us, that we don’t have any longer-term injuries."
ON CHRISTIAN SAYDEE:
"He is another one that is getting up to speed. We need to get him performing in the last 20 minutes of games as he does in the first 20 minutes of games.
"He is another one, if we play him too long that could backfire on us.
"He has done great since he came in. He’s a young boy but has fitted in great with the group, as all the loan signings have. Rob Street, Carl Winchester and Christian Saydee have all come in and done very well."
ON MARKO MAROSI'S PERFORMANCE AGAINST BURTON:
"He did brilliantly. To have the cut and the dislocation – to stay on was incredible really.
"I think, rightly so, it was him or Chey Dunkley vying for man of the match last week.
"He made some great saves, it was a great save when he actually picked up the injury."
