Paul Hurst encouraged by new Shrewsbury Town midfield options

Winchester missed Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Leyton Orient with a hamstring complaint.

But the Croud Meadow head coach hopes Winchester’s lay-off is not serious. Town’s midfield against Orient was a new-look one as deadline day signing Alex Gilliead came in to partner Taylor Perry, while Jordan Rossiter (knee) also continues to recover on the sidelines.

Hurst said: “We certainly hope (Carl Winchester will be available for Wrexham), the only thing I’d add as a precaution is that while he doesn’t seem too bad now, if he starts running and feels it we’ll be in the same position that we were in today.

“We’ll have to see what the week brings.”

Gilliead, who left former club Bradford on a free transfer to re-sign for Shrewsbury five years after his departure, caught the eye in an impressive second debut for the club.

The 28-year-old has transformed into a central midfielder from the wide role he played during his season in Shropshire under John Askey and Sam Ricketts in 2018/19.

Gilliead and Perry drew praise from Hurst for their energetic displays in helping Town to a first league win of the season. Hurst smiled: “He (Winchester) has just said there ‘we’ve found the answer, leave me out’ so that’s one thing! He’s as happy as anyone after that result, I’m sure he would have loved to be out there of course, but he’s still really pleased for the lads.

“I thought he (Gilliead) was excellent. He’s not quite fit yet, he prides himself on his fitness, and he was cramping up towards the end there.

“I thought his legs and his energy, the way that he covered the pitch along with Taylor Perry, those two covered a lot of ground for us today and put in a lot of hard work and running.

“You work all pre-season and think you’re fit, but playing football is different and he was feeling it today, and rightly so.

“At times it might look like they aren’t doing anything, but I promise they are, they’re holding play up and making the opposition go backwards.

“It’s a lot of unselfish work that at times you’ve got to do, and it’s about getting that message to some of the younger players sometimes.”

Hurst added: “The other player I’d like to mention is George Lloyd because I thought he worked absolutely tirelessly, and for the third goal he could have easily given it up. He didn’t and he won the header that sent Tom Bloxham through to finish the afternoon off well for us.”