Shrewsbury Town youngster Dom Smith excited at FA Cup prospects
Shrewsbury Town youngster Dom Smith is excited by the prospect of another FA Cup run – after admitting he can't get last season's exploits out of his head.
Salop embarked on a barnstorming run in the world's oldest knockout competition last term, making it to the fifth round where they fell to a 3-0 Greenhous Meadow defeat to Manchester United.
It was the latest in a run of fine cup escapades by Town, who met with Chelsea the season before in a League Cup encounter.
New boss Paul Hurst makes his first home appearance as boss on Saturday against Barnet in the first round, following a welcome point in his first league outing at Southend.
A number of defensive absentees meant Hurst recalled 20-year-old Smith, a Salop academy graduate, from a loan spell at Barrow – and the youngster went straight into the starting XI at Roots Hall.
"I proved I could play at this level and I'm really proud that I played that many games," said the Welsh under-21 international, who featured 24 times last season.
"But all that really sticks in my mind from last season is our FA Cup run. Sheffield Wednesday (3-2 win in the fourth round) still blows my mind now with that last-minute Jack Grimmer goal – brilliant!
"Our cup run history, even beating Huddersfield earlier this season and going to Sunderland, there's nothing stopping us, we should be able to push on. It's lovely to have a cup run."
Smith's loan spell at Barrow this term came as a surprise to a section of supporters with Shrewsbury leaking goals in League One. But the defender, who made six appearances for the Bluebirds before losing his place due to international duty, was satisfied with getting minutes under his belt in the National League.
"Sending me out has done me a massive world of good," he said. "At my age I wanted to be playing football. Players my age like Kaiman Anderson and Ethan Jones, they're hungry to play football. If they're not getting the game time here then they can go out on loan."
