Shrewsbury v Plymouth - Match preview
Aaron Wilbraham revealed Steve Cotterill told Shrewsbury’s players how proud he was after the weekend’s game – but the assistant boss said they must now ‘go again’.
Salop welcome League One leaders Plymouth Argyle to Montgomery Waters Meadow tonight in what will be another tough test for Cotterill’s men.
They will have a spring in their step though after a positive result at the weekend something their manager was over the moon with according to Wilbraham.
He said: “The gaffer was really proud of the boys after the game and he told them that to be honest.
“It was quite a nice feeling but just a little bit unlucky we did not get that win because we did deserve it.
“But he told them how proud of them he was for the efforts they put in and we go again tonight.”
It has been a tough spell for Shrews – they had lost their four previous League One games before the visit of Pompey at the weekend.
And they are in the midst of an injury crisis with several first-team regulars missing from the matchday squad.
That is something the assistant boss says they have found difficult as coaches to navigate their way around.
He said: “It has been difficult to be fair. Every game something different tends to happen and we are having to face all these challenges.
“We know with the people we have on the sidelines at the moment that we are short.
“If we had all those players back we would have such a strong team, definitely a strong XI to put out there, with good options coming off the bench.
“And when you have not got that, and if you look at the bench from Saturday, not one of them had made a league appearance between them. “So it is difficult, but you have to deal with these things. We are not moaning about it, but it has been difficult.”
The boss will be without Tom Flanagan after the defender, who was a major doubt before Saturday’s game with an ankle injury, was sent off after he picked up two yellow cards in quick succession.
Ryan Bowman will return though. He was sent off in the game at Barnsley for two bookings. He missed the draw with Portsmouth on Saturday, but comes back in contention.
He may find it hard to get back into the starting XI with Rob Street getting his third goal of the season and putting in a good performance.
Elliott Bennett and Tom Bloxham were in good form too, so they could keep their places.
Plymouth will be desperate for a result – they are locked in a three-way battle for automatic promotion with Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich.
They beat Exeter 1-0 at the weekend, but before that, they lost 2-0 to Lincoln and have recently been on the end of a hammering at the hands of Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley.
