Paul Hurst tells Shrewsbury Town midfielder to keep it simple
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst wants midfielder Nohan Kenneh to play to his strengths and keep things simple.
The midfielder has made 26 appearances so far this season, most of which came during former boss Matt Taylor’s reign, after joining the club on a season-long loan from Hibernian.
But since Hurst has taken over, Kenneh has found himself out of the matchday squad for three out of the new boss’s five matches.
The Liberian international did return to the squad though last weekend against Wigan and he came on as a 69th-minute substitute for Carl Winchester.
And Hurst has urged Kenneh to keep things simple.
“He won the ball back for us on quite a number of occasions,” Hurst said speaking about Kenneh’s performance.
“Which I think, and I am not going to deny, is his biggest asset. I have kind of said that to him – don’t be ashamed because it might be a basic thing, that isn’t something that fans are going to really love, but it is important to a team.
“I thought he demonstrated that last weekend, that is the sort of performance that I would sort of look for from him, in terms of winning it back and giving to someone else.
“That is not meant to do Nohan down, that is giving him credit. Hopefully, he can build on that, and we will see how training goes before the next game.”
He came back into the squad at the expense of Tunmise Sobowale – who played and did well at Derby – but has not featured since.
The Town boss has fierce competition for places at the moment, as three members of the squad are being left out each week – for the first time this season, they are relatively injury-free.
And Hurst explained what it was that made him give Kenneh the nod against the Latics over Sobowale.
He said: “He was involved on Saturday because I felt as though we might need extra legs in there.
“Elliott (Bennett) came on as well, he put some excellent set plays in, and will never shy away from getting the ball whether it is good bad or indifferent.
“I think if you get to that point with him in their and Nohan’s athletic ability, it contributes and complements when Elliott was in there, and he kept it simple.”
