Impact substitutes a bonus for Shrewsbury says Steve Cotterill
Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill says he would like to work with a bigger squad – but he is having to cut his cloth accordingly.
Salop have got themselves into the League One play-off race with some superb form since the turn of the year, winning seven of their last nine matches
Their latest win over Wycombe Wanderers last weekend was sealed by substitute Rekeil Pyke, and when asked about the impact from his bench, Cotterill said: “It’s a bonus when you have got them. It’s about having that full squad. That is what it is about.
“People say I like to work with a small squad. I’d rather have a bigger one but it’s what you can afford and what quality you can get.
“There is no point in having a squad where you have got a player for every day of the week bar Saturday – that’s no good.
“You can have a great squad and a fantastic team picture, but you can’t pick any of them for more than a game because you pick one and they are not very good and then you pick a replacement the following week and he isn’t very good.
“It’s very, very, difficult to get the quality we have got in for the price we have got it in. That’s been incredibly hard work and I’ve had do it here too often.”
Today’s trip to fifth-placed Derby County begins another busy and crucial week for ninth-placed Town, who then visit eighth-placed Peterborough United on Tuesday and host struggling Morecambe next Saturday.
Asked if he envisages any changes for those games, Cotterill replied: “In the next week, yes. I think probably over the next week there will be a change or two.
“We haven’t got too many we can make. But we have got one we can make in midfield if we feel we need to. And we have got striker changes.
“It would be nice to have a couple of other changes but we haven’t had them most of the season so we will cope.”
