Paul Hurst gives stern warning to Shrewsbury players
Paul Hurst has told his misfiring Shrewsbury Town squad they must rediscover their form – or risk being replaced.
Despite Town’s lofty League One position and two cup progressions in their previous two games, the Shrewsbury Town boss has been less than impressed with some of his side’s recent outings.
And Hurst – whose side are second in League One but have lost two league games on the bounce – has reminded his squad that, with January around the corner and Town looking to sustain a push at the summit, he will not be afraid to shake things up.
“The message was sent out before the (Morecambe) game (on Saturday), January is coming closer,” said Hurst. “I don’t want to have to make loads of changes but if we see a downturn in performance levels between now and January, that will make me question whether we need more changes than what I hope I’m thinking about.”
Hurst is known for demanding nothing less than full commitment from his squad – and he delivered a scathing assessment of Tuesday night’s Checkatrade Trophy success at Port Vale.
Now he expects them to show the right attitude as they look to winning ways at MK Dons this weekend.
“I start to question one or two things when it’s not the first time it’s happened,” Hurst admitted. “Like the Bradford game, I can take losing if they play like they did there. I accept you’re not going to always play brilliantly, but some of the things I see from the players, and their mentality to it, I want better.
“If in the end it meant losing the players then I’d rather do that than giving up what I want and demand from them.
“I’m sure I won’t because deep down they know it themselves.”
He added: “We’ll keep pushing them because we’ve seen how good they can be when they’re on it. I’m not asking them to do something we can’t do.
“But we’re nowhere near good enough to think we can play half-pace.”
