Aaron Wilbraham: Standards have shot up on Steve Cotterill's return

Cotterill is nearing the end of his sixth week at work since returning from eight months away from the club, most of which was spent battling severe Covid-19.

The boss has enjoyed two fixtures back in the dugout, taking over from his No.2 Wilbraham, who did a sterling job in the hotseat while Cotterill was unavailable.

But the 57-year-old presence's in training at Sundorne Castle has raised things up a number of notches, former striker Wilbraham admitted, as players new and old in Cotterill's new-look squad go about proving themselves to the boss all over again.

Cotterill's men go to newly-promoted Morecambe tomorrow in the hunt of points after a defeat to start the campaign at home to Burton last weekend. The midweek comeback shootout success over Lincoln in the League Cup does provide a platform for Town to build.

"It's brilliant," Wilbraham said of Cotterill's return to work. "The standards just go through the roof when the gaffer's about.

"That's not taking away anything from the lads here without the gaffer, because they are all brilliant.

"But when you hear people talk about when Alex Ferguson used to walk over to the warm-up drills at Man United the standard would go up, I think all the ex-United players say that and it's similar with the gaffer.

"He demands a higher standard and having him around the place is brilliant, everyone's buzzing to see him."

Town's No.2 added: "The gaffer had pre-season planned out exactly as he wanted to do it.

"He's always wanted pre-season with his team, he doesn't like coming in halfway through a season.

"We got the job done in surviving last year but he wouldn't have been able to wait to have the pre-season with the players, he'll have looked forward to that all summer.

"It's been a really good pre-season, the lads are looking really fit if you look at the first two games."

Wilbraham, who was appointed last December shortly after Cotterill made the Montgomery Waters Meadow switch, admits the opportunity to return to an assistant role has helped he and first-team coach David Longwell look to manage Cotterill's workload on the boss's way back to recovery.

Tomorrow's trip to Morecambe is Town's first clash at the Shrimps' home since March 2015. The club achieved the remarkable feat of promotion from the fourth tier last season and this campaign sees them compete at the highest level in their history.

They have started with a bang too, picking up a point in a superb point at big-spending Ipswich last weekend before dumping Championship Blackburn out of the Cup in midweek.

There is likely to be a new face in the visiting line-up at Globe Arena, with newest Shrewsbury recruit, loan striker Sam Cosgrove, poised to make his Salop bow.

The former prolific Aberdeen striker has been confirmed as the club's new No.9 and is expecting to rediscover the back of the net after a tough eight months at Birmingham.

Wilbraham said: "Sometimes it happens in your career, you go to certain clubs it didn't work and you move on, but for his character to want to come and play games - he could've stayed at Birmingham and sat around - but he wants to play games and start scoring goals again.

"The manager will get the best out of him and coming into a good group will mean it's a good move for him."