Paul Hurst gives message to Shrewsbury players ahead of Bolton test
Paul Hurst says the Shrewsbury Town players need to give the club’s supporters something to get behind when they head to Bolton tonight.
Swiftly after the 2-0 defeat to Wycombe at the weekend, Salop are back in League One action as they visit third-placed Bolton.
And the Town head coach is hoping his side can take inspiration from a Pep Guardiola quote on the walls of the training ground which urges them to run more.
“You have to be willing to leave everything out on the pitch,” Hurst said. “And sometimes the game might not be going the way you want it to.
“But you have got to be willing to dig deep, you have got to perhaps do some parts of playing football that aren’t at the top of your list of an ideal game for you.
“A lot of that comes down to hard work and running, and that is the facts. I am a big believer in it.
“I did not put the message up on the training ground wall, but there is one as you walk into the canteen from Pep Guardiola around: You have to run.
“That is not him being a genius, but it is fundamental to being successful and getting the most out of yourself.”
The Wycombe defeat was a disappointing performance from Hurst’s men, not helped by Tom Flanagan’s red card with just over 20 minutes to go when the scores were at 0-0.
Town are still fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league table, and the boss believes if they show fight and character, the fans will always be there to back them up.
“I think there are times we could have done that more on Saturday,” Hurst said.
“I think that would naturally have given the crowd a bit of a lift. They want to be with the team, we have said that right from day one. They are desperate to support their team and are very forgiving in lots of ways, so Saturday was one of the very few times you can kind of see that anger and a bit of frustration and a few boos.
“I cannot disagree with that, but if they see people absolutely leaving everything out there, whether it is a little thing like closing a clearance down, suddenly they want to get behind you.
“We need to do more of that, certainly more than we did on Saturday.”
Shrewsbury’s difficult week on the road continues as they make the trip to the Valley at the weekend to take on Nathan Jones’ in-form Charlton side – they then finish the season in Shropshire against Leyton Orient.
