Steve Cotterill: Injuries pushing Shrewbury players to their limits
Steve Cotterill has admitted Shrewsbury Town’s injury setbacks are pushing his players to the limit.
Salop have been desperately unlucky with injuries so far this season, both George Nurse and Daniel Udoh have been ruled out for the remainder of the season and other members of the squad have also received unfortunate injury news.
Elliott Bennett was the latest to miss out at the weekend – as he was not in the matchday squad for Town’s game with Barnsley.
And the Salop boss says with the volume of players who are unavailable for selection is pushing the squad.
“I don’t know how to change it,” he said on the number of players out injured.
“We have had five players sat in the stand on Saturday who could easily have been in the starting line-up.
“We are trying to do what we are trying to do with what we have available, and they have done exceptionally well.
“We could get rid of the players we have now and go and get lesser players but double the squad size, but there is no continuity.
“You’re changing your right-back, left-back, forward, and centre-back every week.”
Cotterill has been in football management for a long time with spells in charge of Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City to name a few.
And last week, the boss marked his 800th game in management, but in all that time, he is not sure he has had such bad luck with injuries.
He said: “I don’t think so with the severity of them, but I’d have to think back.
“With these, they aren’t like a pulled muscle, we are talking two cruciates here, two double hernias and not just doubles, problems on top of them for Aiden O’Brien and Julien Dacosta.
“Elliott Bennett needed an ankle operation, and I have no doubt he will be out for a sustained period with a calf injury. And chuck in for good measure for Marko Marosi dislocates his finger and cuts it open, so I don’t know what else you can do to get those guys back, I genuinely don’t know.
“It is tough to get over and tough on the boys as well.
“At the weekend they played their hearts out. It tells, we have no one who can go and do that left wing-back role to talk the responsibility off Jordan Shipley who has had to play three games there in a week.”
