Steve Cotterill to weigh up options when replacing Shrewsbury's George Nurse
Steve Cotterill says he will need time to assess his options before deciding whether he needs to replace the injured George Nurse at left wing-back.
The 23-year-old went off with a knee injury in the game against Burton Albion, and it was later revealed the former Bristol City man had ruptured his ACL and would miss the remainder of the season.
It was a huge blow for Town, who have also recently lost star striker Daniel Udoh to the same injury.
And boss Cotterill has said he will need to see how his players get on filling the void left by Nurse, as well as the injuries to other members of the squad, before deciding if he needs to replace him in the January window.
“If you are asking me now, if it was a window would I be potentially looking at maybe another left back or another left wing back? Then maybe,” he said when asked about his options without Nurse.
“But I don’t really know the answer to that at the moment because I need to see over a period of time and what happens obviously with injuries elsewhere.
“Because that can sometimes have a knock-on effect really.
“I have mentioned that before.”
It is well known that Town’s recruitment policy has featured signing players who are versatile and can play in different positions.
Jordan Shipley has played there already this season – when Town played Carlisle United in the Carabao Cup.
Elliott Bennett featured there during his time at Blackburn, and Luke Leahy was signed as a wing-back when he joined from Bristol Rovers.
Although the boss is pleased his squad is versatile, the two ACL injuries still leave him light in depth on the bench.
“It will help that we can manoeuvre the team around a little bit,” he continued. “But it just makes your options lighter on the bench.
“You know if you look at us before Dan Udoh got injured you think, ‘OK. What we’re trying to do now is get Julien (Dacosta) and Aiden O’Brien back, and then you think we have got a real competitive squad’.
“Then all of a sudden, we lose those two, and then we’re still fighting to get the other two back.
“We are now looking light on numbers in certain areas. So it is all part and parcel, and we have got to try and navigate our way through rough waters at times.”
