Summer of change at Shrewsbury Town awaits Paul Hurst
Paul Hurst is braced for a busy summer after all-but securing Shrewsbury's League One safety, claiming 'the hard work starts now'.
The Town boss, whose side need to acquire just one point from Sunday's final day at Oxford to mathematically confirm their status, commented on an arduous season.
But, despite the euphoric scenes after last Saturday's fine victory over Southend, the Yorkshireman has insisted that more hard work is only just around the corner as he hinted at a summer of change.
"People might think that a lot of the hard work's done but it's kind of just starting again," said the Greenhous Meadow boss. "As a manager that's a position you take on, it's very rare that you get a real period to relax – and that includes your holiday.
"The phone will ring and I'll be wanting to find out about one or two things, but we'll certainly try to find a little bit of time to relax a little."
Hurst has recently passed six months with Shrewsbury, having been appointed on October 24.
The ex-Grimsby chief has won 11 and drawn eight of his 30 league games in charge of Shrews.
But with rivals Port Vale edging a 1-0 win at Walsall on Tuesday night, the fight to confirm safety goes to a curtain-closer at the Kassam Stadium.
"It feels like a long time ago," Hurst added. "The season, if you take in where I started, seems like another lifetime almost.
"It's strange how long things feel but you don't mind when you get to this point where we are."
Hurst was reluctant to single out individuals after Town's memorable Southend success, noting the improvement he wants from match-winner Junior Brown.
"He needs some work in his positional play," said Hurst.
"But what he has got is that leap, teams know what he can do.
"I don't want to talk about individuals, I want to talk about everyone that has contributed and got us to this point and ever so close to confirming our League One status."
Shrews will test the fitness of top scorer Louis Dodds ahead of the visit to Oxford. No.10 Dodds pulled out of the starting XI against Southend last time around after pulling up injured in the warm-up.
West Brom loanee Tyler Roberts, who spent a period on loan with Oxford before Christmas, is unlikely to be risked.
