Shrewsbury's Steve Cotterill juggling loan players in squad
Steve Cotterill says he is going to have to navigate his way around Shrewsbury’s loan player situation – with only five players allowed in the squad.
When Killian Phillips was brought into the club at the start of the month, on loan from Crystal Palace, it meant Cotterill had six players in his squad on loan from other clubs.
When team sheets are submitted before a game, they cannot contain any more than five loan players among the 18 selected – meaning one will miss out.
Carl Winchester, Christian Saydee, Julien Dacosta, Rob Street and Taylor Moore are Town’s other loan players, but with Dacosta’s injury problems, he has not been involved since the early part of the season.
But with the wing-back returning to fitness, and making a brief cameo against Sunderland last weekend, the Town boss now admits he will need to navigate his way through this period.
“We know we have six loans, and only five can be involved in the team sheet,” Cotterill said.
“Along the line, there is going to be a loan player that is going to be left out of the squad, it is just the situation I have found myself in because of all the injuries.
“And one of those injuries was to Julien, so it is a difficult situation that I have to navigate myself around.
“But I have to do what is the right thing to do for the football club.”
Dacosta joined in the summer on a seasons loan from Coventry and he made a bright start to life at Town before picking up his injury.
The Frenchman’s last appearance prior to last weekend was a one-off cameo against Cheltenham in October when he came on in the 89th minute.
But his last start was in the 1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers back in August, so the defender is well short of match sharpness.
And the Town boss admitted it was going to be difficult, and the 26-year-old needs game time to get up to speed.
“Building him up is going to be difficult,” Cotterill continued.
“We can do that in training.
“But what happens is you almost need game time.”
Salop were looking to get their league campaign back on track today when they travel to 22nd-placed Burton Albion, a side they beat 2-1 when they met in September.
