Shrewsbury chief Paul Hurst buzzing for hostile Walsall reception
Shrewsbury boss Paul Hurst is relishing the prospect of a hostile atmosphere as Town head to Walsall tomorrow.
The League One leaders hope to be backed by around 1,200 away fans at the Banks’s Stadium, a ground Shrewsbury have not won at since 1993.
Hurst is well accustomed to hostile environments from his days in charge at Blundell Park in front of passionate and expectant Grimsby fans.
And Hurst reckons his opposite number, Saddlers chief Jon Whitney, will also be anticipating a lively afternoon in the West Midlands.
“I’m sure before a ball is kicked there’ll be some chants flying around, quite a bit of hopefully friendly banter – or perhaps not!” said Hurst, whose side have a four-point lead.
“Certainly once that adrenaline, enthusiasm and a little bit of alcohol wears off it’ll probably die down slightly. But events on the pitch will then determine things.
“Whether it’s crunching tackles, refereeing decisions or a couple of goals.
“Certainly everything’s in place for it to be quite hostile. But I think Jon Whitney’s looking forward to that side of it, I certainly am and the players should certainly be. It’s a good game for everyone to look forward to.”
Hurst was coy with fitness issues going into the derby, but revealed a couple of his players are touch-and-go to make the clash.
“You can toss aside a lot of history,” he added. “That record doesn’t faze me, it’s about controlling emotion and doing the things we’ve been doing well.
“Can we do them even better and try to extend this unbeaten run?
“We know it’ll come to an end, but we don’t want it to be at Walsall, far from it.
“It’s a local derby, so that always brings a bit of edge to the game and from our point of view it’s the worst place to go to and lose our record.
“I’ve read one or two things that have made me smirk, but for us it’s just about keeping going. What I wouldn’t certainly do is change places with Walsall at this stage.”
Supporters have until 3pm today to purchase tickets for the all-ticket game, meaning no tickets can be purchase at Walsall on the day.
Town have been allocated 1,200 tickets and had sold more than 900.
