Nigel Pearson remembers Shrewsbury roots

A menacing and committed centre-half, Pearson was just 18 when he was spotted by Shrewsbury playing for non-league Heanor Town.

The young defender was snapped up by then-Town boss Graham Turner and began a glittering career that saw him play more than 150 times for the blue and amber army.

Now in his second spell as boss at Leicester, the talented manager is all too aware who gave him his big break.

Pearson said: "I was playing non-league football so when I moved to Shrewsbury it was the equivalent of moving to a Championship side because they were in the old Second Division.

"It was a huge step. I was at college and studying A-levels so was only playing part-time. The opportunity to join the professional ranks was massive and if it hadn't happened, I don't know what I'd have done.

"I learned a lot at Shrewsbury. I had six years there. I signed in November 1981 and made my debut the following August."

Pearson remembers that legendary Town boss Graham Turner wanted to build a young and hungry side.

"They moved a lot of the older players on and gave the younger players a chance," he said. "It was a really good club, I learned an awful lot from senior players like Colin Griffin. Griff played 400 or 500 games.

"Graham Hawkins was assistant manager at the time and he went on to manage Wolves so the coaching culture was there.

"I learned an awful lot, picking up good habits from the senior players I was playing with and the coaches.

"If you have good role models around you – and we had lots of good senior pros – it gives you a good education. For a club of our size, with a squad of only 16 or 17 players, it was a great experience."

Those habits have served Pearson well during a management career that has taken him through each of England's top four divisions, experiences at international level with the England Under-21 team and two promotions with Leicester.

He is now testing himself against the best managers in the country in the Premier League, and admits that the target of keeping Leicester in the top division will have an impact on his team selection tonight.

However, Micky Mellon's boys can't expect too many favours. Pearson said: "I've made no secret of the fact that the Premier League is our priority this year.

"There is nothing to hide in that respect. We need to make sure we are clear what our priorities are.

"But the League Cup has always been a competition which I feel is very important, and, as we showed last season it was important in our ability to get some momentum prior to the Christmas period."

Town boss Mellon knows Pearson as a playing competitor. He said: "I came up against him a few times when I was at Barnsley. He was always very hard to get anything against and has gone on to be a successful manager.

"It's going to be a great test for us and we go there ready to give a good account of ourselves. We'll be giving it our all to get a result."

Meanwhile, Mellon has confirmed the hamstring injury picked up by midfielder Ashley Vincent at Northampton will keep him out for four to six weeks.

"It's unfortunate for him and unfortunate for us," he said.

"We'll be doing our best to get him back to 100 per cent as soon as possible."