Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill hot on beating big chill

Temperatures have plunged below freezing across the country and caused the call-off of numerous matches due to frozen pitches.

And the Town boss is ensuring his players do all they can to avoid injuries caused by the cold snap.

Cotterill says times have changed since turning out in cold weather was seen as a test of how tough a player was and he now makes sure his squad are protected against the elements in training. And when it comes to the prevention of injuries, Cotterill said: “I’m pretty hot on that. I know a lot of managers and what they used to be like.

“I think it’s a bit of an old-school thought where people would say ‘no hats, no gloves, no tracksuit bottoms’. I think that is a nonsense.

“It used to be a thing years ago to show how tough you are.

“But training was a lot different then. There is activation that goes into training, warm-ups, passing drills, there is more standing around with the patterns than there was a few years ago.”

Cotterill understands the perils of not donning the right gear when it comes to training in sub-zero conditions, adding: “I’m pretty hot on the boys wrapping up. You can take layers off as you go along.

“But you need to get their body temperatures up before they come out into the cold because a lot of problems are caused by players coming out cold.

“Then all of a sudden, they are producing sharp movements and it can end up with a pulled muscle.

“As much as we can do – we do. But I’ll still be nervous in the early parts of training.”