Shrewsbury Town out to do it for Steve Cotterill in FA Cup
Shrewsbury Town want an FA Cup giant-killing at Southampton tonight to aid Steve Cotterill’s recovery from Covid-19 as the boss watches on from his hospital bed.
Cotterill was admitted into intensive care in Bristol last Friday for precautionary measures and will be absent from tonight’s delayed third round tie at St Mary’s.
And captain Ollie Norburn and assistant Aaron Wilbraham, who will take the reins alongside Dave Longwell in Cotterill’s absence, insist the manager’s illness has ‘focused’ the squad into upsetting the odds for the boss.
“If anything I think it’s focused them more to want to do well for the manager, that’s what I’ve seen in their eyes over the last couple of days,” said Wilbraham, who played under Cotterill at Bristol City and kept players up to speed on the manager’s condition over the weekend.
“I just hope they take that into the game with them and if we do then we will be fine.
“They realise the seriousness of the situation and know how worrying it’s been, but they’ve taken that into training and really want to prove a point that they want to make the manager proud tonight.”
Town have trained at Sundorne since Friday in preparation for the Cup tie after their isolation ended.
“It’s pretty clear, we all know the situation the gaffer’s in, he’s not well and can’t be with us, so it’s over to us basically,” said Shrewsbury captain Norburn. “We’ve got to go and carry on what we’ve been doing.
“He sent some messages from his bed in hospital, that speaks volumes about him.
“You see in interviews, he loves football and it speaks volumes about him making phone calls when he’s not in the best condition.
“We’ve got to go out tonight for ourselves and get the result for the gaffer.”
