Shrewsbury v Cambridge - Match preview
Shrewsbury will be seeking revenge for their Boxing Day defeat at Cambridge when the U’s visit Montgomery Waters Meadow this weekend.
Town fell to a 2-1 defeat at the Abbey Stadium just over three weeks thanks to goals from Shilow Tracey and Sam Smith – but it was a game Salop did not deserve to lose.
Steve Cotterill’s men endured a difficult run over the Christmas period after that clash, which they put to bed last week when they thrashed relegation-threatened Burton Albion 4-0 at the Pirelli Stadium.
And the boss will be hoping for the same again from his players this weekend when they return to the Meadow.
Cotterill confirmed that Salop have had a disruptive week due to the freezing cold weather in the UK, with training being moved to the 4G pitch behind the stadium.
He said: “When you can’t get on the grass it is always a change.
“When you are at the training ground you go out, and you are straight on the grass.
“Whereas here we have to travel down and get going on a 4G pitch, so it is not ideal some of the lads do not like it, not necessarily our boys.
“Normally, you are training on a softer surface, but we have just had to make do with what we have.”
Cotterill says his players must ensure they do not mix confidence with arrogance after last weekend’s result, but he admitted that the players in the squad are unlikely to do that.
“The morale was not bad anyway, what the win probably does is it just helps reinforce what we have been doing,” he continued.
“We have created chances, and we took them last week.
“So, morale was always good, I think confidence is something we will take out of it.
“We just need to make sure it is confidence and not arrogance really, but I don’t anticipate any of our boys being like that.
“They are good lads, hopefully they can continue that form going into the game this weekend.”
The boss had the luxury of bringing Tom Bayliss, Elliott Bennett, Rekeil Pyke and Ryan Bowman off the bench last weekend, something he has not had too often this season.
It is some depth for Town, and Cotterill has the choice to change things in the game if he feels necessary, something which should be the case again tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Cotterill also confirmed there is no update on the future of Aiden O’Brien.
Ahead of the game at the Burton last weekend the boss said the forward’s future is likely to be elsewhere, as the 29-year-old wants to move closer to his family.
But Cotterill said things have been quiet in the transfer market this week, and they must wait to see how it pans out with O’Brien.
He said: “No there is no update on that at this moment in time.
“It seems to have gone very quiet, all round I mean, not just on him.
“It seems to have gone very quiet this week. So no, there aren’t any updates on that, we just have to wait and see how it pans out really.”
