Shrewsbury Town mind games key, says boss Paul Hurst

The League One high-flyers return to matters in the third tier tomorrow night with a trip to strugglers Bradford City.

The Bantams have won just once in 14 games and have slipped dramatically down League One under Simon Grayson.

Hurst is aware he will have to rally his troops from Sunday’s Checkatrade Trophy final loss to Lincoln and believes confidence and energy levels come from what is in players’ minds.

When asked how to psychologically prepare his players, Hurst replied: “You can try. Psychology is a big part of football.

“You have got a lot of players who can perform at a similar-ish level. And then I think your mind does come into it.

“Your mind affects confidence, how you’re feeling, your energy levels. We will try and help the players with that.

“I’m not a psychologist. I sometimes feel like I am. But ultimately we are still in a great position. That is the clear message to the players.”

Shrewsbury have sold around 300 tickets for their trip to Valley Parade. The club have agreed to lay on free coaches in acknowledgement of the number of costly trips in recent weeks.

Hurst is determined not to let the Wembley disappointment against Lincoln impact his side’s remarkable league campaign.

The boss challenged his side, who are missing injured skipper Abu Ogogo for the remainder of the season, to give a true account of themselves on national television tomorrow night.

“For large parts of this season they have been fantastic,” added the boss. “We don’t want to just slip away and peter out.

“We are still in a really good position and have got some big games coming up, irrespective of whether we finish in the top two or the play-offs.

We have got big games to play and we have got to handle them more like we have this season than on Sunday.”