Steve Cotterill: Shrewsbury Town will avoid struggle
Manager Steve Cotterill feels Shrewsbury Town will be ‘out of the struggle’ of relegation scraps going into the new League One campaign.
Cotterill leads his new-look Town side out in Saturday’s curtain-raiser at home to Burton Albion as supporters make their full return to the stands at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
The occasion also promises to be an emotional for Shrewsbury’s 57-year-old boss, who is back for his first competitive fixture in the dugout after serious illness.
Town have spent all but one of their six seasons back in League One scrambling to finish clear of the relegation zone. Cotterill, who was appointed to replace Sam Ricketts last November, believes he has led the club out of a ‘struggle’ as he aims to push Shrewsbury further up the table.
“The thing is here, you can plan a little bit, which means you never have to put the club at risk,” said Cotterill.
“When the season end and you’re going into the next, it’s important to have that planning and preparation behind you.
“We have probably struggled a little bit for a couple of seasons now, so we’ve got to get out of that struggle before we can become serious, if you know what I mean.”
While Cotterill is likely to privately harbour hopes of breaking into the top half of an extremely competitive League One this season, he dampened expectations publicly, as he stressed the need for a ‘consolidation’ period.
The boss added: “We’re out of the struggle a little bit, I think, but we’ve got to make sure we consolidate where we are now before we build on it – without making any rash statements about where we’re going to finish in the league, because that’s what you’re asking me, I think I’ve done a good enough job talking around the houses without answering it.”
When initially asked about aims and targets for the campaign, Cotterill replied almost half tongue-in-cheek: “To make sure I’m still in the training ground, in the dugout, and pushing the lads like I’m pushing them now – and not anywhere else!”
Visitors Burton, meanwhile, have big injury concerns heading into Saturday, with first-choice forward duo Louis Moult (ankle) and Kane Hemmings (hamstring) both set to miss out.
