Bernard McNally: Shrewsbury Town's Wembley dreams will be put on hold
Shrewsbury Town have learned their Checkatrade Trophy fate.
They will face Yeovil Town in the semi-finals at the Montgomery Waters Meadow – and if they win that, Lincoln City in the final at Wembley.
A fair few Town fans will be happy that if Paul Hurst’s charges make it to the national stadium, they will be facing a fellow senior side.
The competition lost a lot of supporters with its inclusion of under-21 teams – many up and down the country deciding to boycott – and it may have taken away from the big day out for the Salop faithful slightly if they faced Chelsea’s youngsters.
And while Wembley is certainly in touching distance, Town cannot be too focused on it just yet.
After all, they have a promotion race in League One to worry about and they need to get past Yeovil on Tuesday, February 27.
They may be a league below but Yeovil are no pushovers – they tend to do well in the cups.
It would be great to see a bigger gate turn out for the clash and, as the old adage goes, be the 12th man to try to get Salop into the final.
These really are exciting times for Hurst’s men – a Trophy semi-final on the horizon, while being just two points off top spot in the league.
They picked up another fine result at the weekend, with Toto Nsiala scoring late on to win 2-1 at Bristol Rovers.
The triumph epitomised Town’s physical and mental strength, to keep going right until the end – having that never-say-die attitude.
Alex Rodman created Nsiala’s goal – sprinting to make a sliding tackle, taking on a few Rovers defenders and firing the ball across goal for the centre-half to help it over the line.
And that moment of quality from the winger came as a result of having added competition.
Salop signed a couple of wingers on deadline day last week, in Abo Eisa and Nathan Thomas – the latter starting in place of Rodman at the Memorial Stadium.
Rodman then came on for him for the final quarter of an hour and, with the bit between his teeth, proved his quality and importance to the team.
Competition pushes you to the limit, makes you put in an extra yard. He would not have been happy to have started on the bench, but he responded in the perfect manner.
There is competition for places all over the pitch and that is exactly what you want as a manager.
Every player knows they have to perform at a high level in training and on matchdays – to either get in the team or stay in it. And that’s a good headache for Paul going into Saturday’s game against Plymouth at home, whether to go with Thomas or Rodman at left wing.
Town will be going into the clash with a lot of confidence, aiming to continue as they have been – not just getting results, but picking them up by playing some excellent football.
