Town ponder Cooke comeback

Shrewsbury manager Gary Peters was today pondering whether to allow Andy Cooke to continue his “hex” over lucky opponents Stockport for the Boxing Day blockbuster at Oteley Road.

See also: Accrington 1 Shrews 2 - photo gallery

Peters today confirmed Cooke was back available five months after sustaining a near career-ending hamstring injury against Colchester in the Carling Cup.

The fact the 33-year-old has completed just 45 reserve minutes on the comeback trail means it is highly unlikely to have gained sufficient match-sharpness to be given a starting role against a side he scored two hat-tricks against last season.

But that stunning record could provide a major temptation for Peters to include the experienced Shropshire-born forward in his 16.

“Andy Cooke is in contention which is great for us full stop,” said Peters. “We will have to see what we do. The fact we are playing Stockport could go either way - they will obviously be wary of him after what he did last season but they may well defend better because they are determined for him not to score those goals again.”

Peters is hoping for a clean bill of health for Wednesday’s home clash with defender Colin Murdock again available after being ruled out of Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Accrington Stanley with a niggling calf strain.

And the Town boss is eyeing an improved performance from the weekend as his side prepares to take on one of the most unpredictable forces in League Two.

“I was pleased with the result on Saturday but we did not play well enough in the first half,” added Peters.

“There was some strong words at half-time which I wouldn’t have liked to have been on the end of and we improved after that and played the conditions much better.

“We now have to get ourselves ready for Wednesday and Stockport are a team who can be very dangerous.

“They have got good forwards and beat Wycombe 6-0 a couple of weeks ago which tells you what they are capable of.

“We have got a good result under our belt to start Christmas which always helps and now it’s important we keep that going.”

Club officials remain hopeful of a crowd in excess of 7,000 for what is traditionally the most popular date on the football calender.