Boss Paul Hurst warns fans: Don’t expect Shrewsbury and Rotherham to serve up a Wembley thriller
Wembley-bound boss Paul Hurst has warned Shrewsbury fans to not expect five-star entertainment at the national stadium.
The Town manager is readying his side for a date with former club Rotherham in the League One play-off final on Sunday aiming to end Shrewsbury’s Wembley hoodoo.
But Hurst, who oversaw the 1-0 Checkatrade Trophy reversal to Lincoln at Wembley last month, believes finals can often be tense affairs – and, with so much at stake, are often not the greatest spectacle for fans.
“How many finals are that good?” Hurst asked. “Someone was on about the FA Cup (final between Manchester United and Chelsea). I didn’t think the second half, at least, was a bad game once it opened up.
“But how many really, really good finals do you remember of late?
“Nerves clearly play a part as well. Maybe it’s players don’t take risks, play safe, just boot it in the crowd so they haven’t cost a goal.”
Hurst believes that both his Shrewsbury team and former Millers team-mate Paul Warne’s Rotherham possess similar attributes.
Their head-to-head record reads one-all as 10-man Town dramatically won at the New York Stadium in November before the Millers won 1-0 at Montgomery Waters Meadow in February. The Town boss continued: “Both teams, numerous times over the course of the season I’d suggest, have over-powered opponents.
“That doesn’t mean knocking someone off the ball, but in terms of out-running teams, breaking the will, being stronger mentally.
“I think that comes, to a degree, from the competitiveness of the managers with how we pride our teams being, that we’re not ashamed about.
“Some managers will always want to say ‘I want to be known as a technical team’. That’s great, but if you’ve got no heart and backbone, you be a technical team and we’ll run over the top of you.
“We want a team that does all the parts. Both our teams have shown that side as well as playing good football as well.
“Against Charlton we showed both sides of our game. We looked a real threat, we passed it quite well at times.”
“When we perhaps lost our way slightly each game we stood strong, put bodies on the line, I’m sure Warney’s had those games with his group.
“You want good people that’ll work hard and commit to the shirt and the club. We’ve got that.
“That’ll be part of it, to a degree, both teams are fully aware of that.”
