Paul Hurst 'bored to tears' during Shrewsbury Town win
A disappointed Paul Hurst revealed he was 'bored to tears' as Shrewsbury Town ended their warm-up schedule with an underwhelming 1-0 victory over 10-man Burton Albion.
A controversial first-half saw Marvin Sordell dismissed for a horror tackle on Abu Ogogo, who had earlier fouled him.
Hurst thought the tackle was 'career ending', with some Town players claiming it the worst they'd ever seen.
Shrewsbury-born and based referee Rob Lewis, overseeing the clash, did not replace Sordell - as sometimes happens in friendly - with another Brewers player, with boss Nigel Clough less than impressed from the sidelines.
But Hurst had to wake himself from a slumber as full-time ahead of his meet and greet at the club's open day, claiming the game had almost sent him to sleep.
"I was bored to tears to be honest," said the boss. "I can't wait for next Saturday when it means something.
"In fairness, Nigel's flipped it as they'll have points where they need to be 10 v 11.
"Yes we might have that occasionally but more often than not we want have all of the ball like that.
"It was already slow, following a similar trend to the Cardiff game. It continued.
"We hit the post and got the winner but a lot was their mistakes than anything we did. I think there's a lack of understanding against 10 men.
"The pitch needs to be shorter. That's not an excuse and you're relying on it raining, more often than not it rains when you don't want it!
"But we can help ourselves so much more. A disappointment end for pre-season albeit a win."
On the sending off midway through the first period, which was followed by a 22-man melee, Hurst took a firm view - claiming his captain was lucky to escape without serious injury.
He added: "For me there's no doubt it was a sending off. It was an awful tackle. There lad's come off thinking he's been done by Abs in the first place.
"A couple of people that have seen it back think it's a strong tackle (the first) - they're upset with it, they think it's a yellow that wasn't given.
"For me it was more the noise made. That's genuinely my opinion sat up there.
"It certainly doesn't warrant what could've been a career-threatening injury. Some of the lads on the pitch, not Abs to be fair, but they were saying it was arguably the worst tackle they've ever seen."
