Steve Cotterill: Break key for our Shrewsbury young guns

A couple of Town youngsters have enjoyed breakthrough seasons and the Town chief believes a summer period is when youngsters can take on and build from experience gained.

Cotterill referenced attacker Tom Bloxham, who turned 18 this season, and 2021 signing George Nurse, who turns 23 on Saturday and has played his first full league campaign, as examples of players who can come back stronger still.

“I think, I’m hoping to anyway, see a change in some of our younger players next season,” Cotterill said. “You’ll have Tom who has played in the team, George Nurse who is still only young in his first full season, it’ll be interesting to see how a few of those younger players come back.

“I think their learning period is away from the club in the summer months and they understand what they’ve achieved.

“They come back a little more confident, not everything’s new again, we go to stadiums this season, you can say ‘who’s played here before?’ Three or four hadn’t. I think Dan Udoh only had a two-minute cameo.

“Those younger players need time to develop and I think they’re doing that. They don’t always quite do it at the speed the manager or supporters want.

“The building blocks are quite strong now at the club, there’s good foundations.”

Leicester-born Bloxham made his senior bow aged 17 in 2020/21 but has enjoyed a busy campaign, netting five goals in 40 appearances – 20 starts – in all competitions.

Nurse, the signing from Cotterill’s former club Bristol City, recently clocked up his 50th appearance for the club in his debut campaign.

He has started 40 games and been involved as a substitute on another four occasions of Shrewsbury’s 45 games in League One this season.

Prior to that his most league action in a campaign was 17 fixtures in League Two with Newport County.

“I’ve probably only been here 10 months really, but I’ve probably proved that in the time, the proof is always in the pudding,” Cotterill said.

“I haven’t been shy at putting young players on, you’ve just got to be sure you’re putting them on at the right time in their development and not when people crave them – because they don’t see them on a day-to-day basis like myself and my staff.

“We talked about it this morning, we can’t go out and buy our own 20-year-old midfielder that can go on and play higher up the pyramid, because they will be circa half-a-million or 750 grand.

“You only have to look at (Jay) Matete, who went from Fleetwood to Sunderland for 750 grand, a young midfield player.

“We’ve got to somehow find our own player and develop them into one of ours. We can only do that with the right experienced professionals behind them, the right manager and coach to coach them on and off the field, that’s how they grow and develop.”