Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill 'demoralised' by late signing hijack

Town, who added Tom Flanagan and Matty Bondswell to their ranks on deadline day this week, were beaten to the punch on another two deals they believed to be sewn up.

Another loan addition, believed to be Coventry right wing-back Julien Dacosta, was agreed before the Frenchman chose a move to Portugal at the final second. Cotterill also had a permanent acquisition lined up, only to slip through the net.

“In the last 48 hours of the window we lost two players that were done and dusted,” said Cotterill, whose side host lowly Fleetwood in League One today.

“One was a purchase and the other was a loan, they were absolutely nailed on and yet we lose them.

“Then on the last day what can you do when you don’t even have 24 hours and somebody else has hijacked you?

“The reason they hijack Shrewsbury Town Football Club is because we don’t have enough money to compete with them, so we try to keep everything quiet and tight. We don’t want people to know where we’re fishing.

“We will always have that issue here. I don’t want to bring in somebody who’s going to score 30 goals, I want to bring two who are going to score 30 goals! But we’re not in the market to do that.

“By the way, a lot of clubs have gone and spent big money on strikers at this level, on wages or transfer fees, who haven’t scored as many as Dan Udoh and Ryan Bowman. All that glitters ain’t gold.”

Alongside Dacosta, Town are thought to have held interest in Middlesbrough left wing-back Hayden Coulson, who joined Peterborough on loan, Sunderland utility man Lynden Gooch and Fleetwood midfielder Callum Camps, among others.

Cotterill was keen on right wing-back cover for Elliott Bennett, who been a regular and consistent performer this season.

“We couldn’t quite get the right wing-back that we had nailed on with 48 hours to go, but the club needed him to be able to stay there for the Saturday,” he added.

“Then when it backfires on Sunday morning it is incredibly difficult to undo all the work you’ve done, it gets so demoralising.

“We’ve got to work, we’ve got to be a bit more creative, maybe a bit more defensive, it depends on how Elliott is.”

“We’ve got to see how Elliott is. I think he’s done incredibly this season, incredible. He’s played through a knock on his foot, an injection in his toe, he’s been great.

“We’ve got to push him but not push him to breaking point. On our down days we’ve got to back off Elliott a bit and give him a break.”