Shrewsbury Town will give Stratford maximum respect
Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill has vowed to pay non-league Stratford Town maximum respect in Sunday’s FA Cup first round tie.
League One Town head to the Bards, who play in the third tier of the non-league pyramid, for the televised tie looking to avoid an unwanted upset.
Stratford, managed by Paul Davis, reached the fourth qualifying round and subsequently the first round proper for the first time in their history. The latter was dramatically achieved following a replay against higher-ranked Boston United, which they won 3-2 in a rollercoaster tie.
Cotterill, whose first game in charge of Shrewsbury was an FA Cup second round tie against non-league Oxford City last December, offered his congratulations to the Southern League Central outfit but insisted his Salop will be fully clued up on the hosts’ style in a bid to avoid a taming of the Shrew.
“We’ll be watching Stratford and our scout team will be watching,” Cotterill said. “Whether we can get the footage we don’t know, but we’ll definitely have them covered off by the time we play them.
“We won’t be just turning up there and not knowing anything. I will want to know everything.”
Part-timers Stratford are 12th in their division. Their League Cup tie at Alvechurch on Tuesday was postponed due to poor weather.
“Full credit to them, they’ve got themselves through the non-league rounds they have to play to the first round, so they’ll get the respect off us, congratulations to them for winning their replay,” Cotterill said. “We’ll give them the full respect they deserve, 100 per cent, there will be no taking them for granted, we know what they will be playing.
“It’s very difficult to see your opposition live, you do get opportunities but most of the time you’re both playing.
“Good luck to them with it and getting there. But by the time the game comes our players will be well versed on how they play, what formations they play, who’s who, we won’t prepare any different for the game.”
Cotterill is unlikely to make big changes for the tie, Town’s first against non-league opposition lower than step two since they faced Braintree Town in 2005, which ended in a 4-1 victory to Shrews.
