Shrewsbury Town hopeful after key man injury scare

Shrewsbury Town picked up their first draw in Hurst’s second stint in charge at the weekend as Aaron Pierre scored in the 87th minute to help Salop gain a point.

Shrews picked up several injuries in the second half, as Jack Hinchy suffered a dead leg which Hurst hopes will be fine.

But he revealed he is more concerned about Shipley, who has a sore Achilles from an incident off the ball.

“It was his Achilles,” the Town head coach confirmed. “He felt it, and that is one that in some ways, concerns me more.

“Jack (Hinchy) had a dead leg and they can take time to recover from, but usually ice and a couple of days, and they should be alright I think. Jordan felt his Achilles, and that was not contact or anything, it was just a movement.

“He sort of looked as if he was through it, but he was definitely sore. We took him off at the right time I am hoping for nothing more, but at this point, I am not too sure.”

Tunmise Sobowale made his first start since the game against Stevenage at Pride Park at the weekend. He was bright going forward, offering a threat on the right side.

But from a defensive point of view, Hurst feels he needs a ‘remote control’ so he can make sure the wideman gets in the right position defensively.

He said: “Tunmise is a hard one, I think where he has come from – and I mean that respectfully – he is also probably playing a different position.

“I know he played there before I came in.

“I almost feel like I could do with him on a remote control to get him in the positions I want him.

“But what he did offer at times was a threat going forward. He got us up the pitch at times. There are other times when what hair I’ve got I’m thinking about pulling it out because he’s not quite in the right position!

“He’s not doing it intentionally. We will keep working, keep working with him.

“He’s not on his own, far from it.

“But in terms of getting in those good areas that will make us more solid, and harder to play through (that’s what he needs to work on). But overall, we did that quite well.”

During the first half of the game, Sobowale was on the same side as the dugout, so the coaches could help guide him with his positioning.

Hurst continued: “Because of their shape, we could not press as high up the pitch as I would normally like to do, and Shippers (Jordan Shipley) and Tunmise (Sobowale) were two who were directly involved in that positioning as to when they could go and press.

“No-one gets it right 100 per cent of the time, I was glad he was on our side in the first half so we could get that information on a little bit better.

“He is a great lad, a great kid, anything he does is not done intentionally it just trying to help him learn and develop.”