Shrewsbury Town boss: Longevity key to success

Town head to Adams Park this evening to tackle promotion-chasing Wanderers, who sit sixth, as the visitors look for a first League One win in six.

Home boss Ainsworth, a former Wycombe player, marks 10 years in charge this year and Cotterill, who is in his second year in charge at Town, believes that time allows a boss to ‘manage’ a club. Wycombe spent last term in the Championship following their remarkable rise.

“It’s good, they’ve been through tough times and had good times,” said Cotterill, whose longest spell in charge at a club is five years at Cheltenham Town.

“That’s what happens generally when teams stick with managers at whatever level. Once they’ve got that relationship with the club, supporters, players – whether they come or go – you end up getting success.

“Because it means managers are allowed to manage the football club, and Gareth has done a great job of Wycombe.”

After losing just once in 10 league games, Wanderers have lost their last two outings, against Morecambe and MK Dons, and have not played since January 29.

“They’re very strong at this level, aren’t they? A big, strong – and I’m sure Gareth won’t mind me saying – a direct team,” Cotterill added. “They get it in your box and they test you.

“That’s something we’ve got to look into tonight, because they are very dangerous, very direct and you’ve got to make sure you stand up to that, because if not they will bowl you over.

“They’ve got good players, they’ve had a really good break, they haven’t played for 10 days, they were lucky enough to rest on Saturday.

“So we’ve got to make sure we’re rested, recuperated, and see how our team feel.

“It will be a real challenge, because they’ve done so well.

“We know what it’s going to be and we need to make sure we stand up to it and pick a team to stand up to it, that’s going to be important.”