Steve Cotterill issues a Shrewsbury Town winter warning

Top scorer Ryan Bowman tweaked his calf muscle in Wednesday’s last-gasp defeat at Wigan and is likely to miss today’s crunch clash a basement boys Doncaster.

Manager Cotterill revealed Bowman, 30, does not wrap-up sufficiently for the cold temperatures in the winter months and said that is a factor players must consider.

He added that rainy conditions make pitches much heavier and that, coupled with travel time over a busy week on the road, can bite.

Asked about Bowman’s injury, the boss said: “It’s a calf. I’m surprised really (as Bowman has not had any muscle injuries in his career) and I mentioned it to him, he never wraps up properly. He’s done that throughout his career, so it’s nothing new to him.

“But he’s also, number one. getting older and. number two, moved further north after a couple of years at Exeter where it’s a couple of degrees warmer.

“Part of him becoming a better professional is wrapping up and doing those things, all those small details will help him.

“It helped him when he was coming back from his hamstring and now he’s got to do it in preparation to look after his calf.”

Bowman missed a number of weeks earlier on in the campaign with a hamstring injury and was also out for a shorter period after a heart scare.

Town also lost captain Ethan Ebanks-Landell to a repeat of a hamstring injury at Carlisle last weekend despite thorough tests on the defender. Aaron Pierre is struggling with a knee problem and the manager said players ‘are not progressing quickly enough.’ Shrews’ low numbers have been stretched of late.

Town’s calendar eases somewhat after Doncaster today, with seven days until a home fixture against Cheltenham and another week until the crucial Boxing Day tussle at strugglers Fleetwood.

Cotterill said of the near-freezing temperatures: “They do (make a difference), the idea is to wrap up before you go out so your blood is flowing. If those muscles are stiff and tight they will break down, it’s really important they wrap up.”

The Shrews manager continued: “This period at the moment with the amount of injuries, these wins are really important for the group, because it adds even more competition.

“It’s really important for the players that take the field do their best to win the game, but I know they will. They did the other night when we had people missing against Wigan, certainly in the first half we were excellent.

“But the week started catching up to us in the second half, the pitch at Carlisle was incredible heavy and there was the journey. I hope we have enough in our legs for one big go today.”