Shropshire Star

Ronnie Moore calls for a dose of realism from Shrewsbury fans

Paul Hurst's former Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore hailed the fantastic job Hurst has carried out at Shrewsbury – and told fans to manage their expectations.

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Moore, who managed Hurst at the Millers for eight years between 1997 and 2005, was on commentary duty at Saturday's home defeat and admitted the difficult playing surface made life tough for the hosts.

Town remained top after the 1-0 defeat, a second home reversal on the bounce, but rivals Wigan – one point behind – have two games in hand, and Blackburn play tonight.

The former Tranmere hero said: "The pitch did not look too good.

"You don't normally blame the pitch but it does affect the way Hursty and Shrewsbury play. The ball is bouncing up around people's necks and shoulders. It's hard to get on the ball.

"Sometimes you have a look and say that our passing game isn't going to be right on this because it's only going to get worse.

"It's not getting better. It's not going to turn out like Wembley – it's going to get hard and firmer.

"Maybe it's time to have a look at a different way of winning games."

Moore wants to see Town fans stick with Hurst and his players and make the difference in the promotion run-in.

He added: "I've seen quite a bit of Shrewsbury and they've been fantastic, but you can't be fantastic all of the time.

"I said at half-time on commentary that when you do well expectation gets bigger. You've got to be thankful of where you are with the job he's done here, no disrespect.

"I don't know where Shrewsbury thought they'd be at the start of the season but it wasn't top of the league coming towards the end of February. You need the crowd and the crowd here can be really good.

"I've been here with teams and the noise level is good, with 7,000 or so, just remember to take it easy. "