Shropshire Star

Paul Hurst says Shrewsbury Town won't take Checkatrade Trophy lightly

Paul Hurst sends Shrewsbury Town into Checkatrade Trophy action tonight insisting he won’t be taking the competition lightly.

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Town head to League Two Coventry City’s Ricoh Arena hoping to translate their fine League One form to the regional group stages of the EFL Trophy.

Shrewsbury’s other Group E rivals are Walsall and West Bromwich Albion Under-23s.

Hurst has previous in the competition, when it was known as the Auto Windscreens Shield. He won it as a player for Rotherham in 1996, ironically against Shrewsbury, where future Town favourite Nigel Jemson bagged both goals for the Millers at Wembley.

The competition attracted criticism for its format last season and fans at some clubs staged boycotts.

But Hurst said: “I don’t care what people have to say about it, ultimately I want to see if we can progress. The end goal is to lift the trophy.

“It would be a great day out and a proud moment to lead a team out. I’ve won it as a player, although a different format.

“It was very similar all of those years ago when no-one was interested and you get to near enough the semi-final stage and you could just see Wembley in the distance.

“The interest goes through the roof, managers play full strength teams and it certainly gave me a great memory that you never forget.”

Town bowed out of the competition miserably last season after losing opening group games against Cambridge and at Scunthorpe – the latter proving to be Micky Mellon’s final game in charge. While most managers will choose to rotate their squads for the group games, four outfield players must feature that started against Oxford on Saturday.

Hurst is pleased that fixtures with local connections will add more spice to the ties, while a visit to the Ricoh Arena will be the first of his football career.

And his opposite number in the home dugout, Mark Robins, is a former Rotherham team-mate and manager of Hurst.

“No matter what competition, derbies give it a little bit more edge to the games,” added the Town chief.

“We go to Coventry, I wasn’t here when the team played last year. I haven’t played or managed there, for me that’s quite nice – I’m a bit sad I like to tick the grounds off.

“We’ll go there. I’m coming up against Mark Robins, my old team-mate and manager. It’ll be good to see him and it’ll be a tough game.”