Shropshire Star

Rotherham friendships will be put to one side, says Shrewsbury chief Paul Hurst

Shrewsbury chief Paul Hurst has warned former club Rotherham that niceties will go out of the window come the League One play-off final.

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Hurst is braced for a shootout for the Championship against the side with which he earned legendary status while becoming their record league appearance maker across 15 years between 1993 and 2008.

The Town boss, who will be going up against former Millers team-mate Paul Warne – now Rotherham boss – has called the fairytale final ‘fate’.

He was extremely grateful to United staff and fans for the way he was received on his Millers return in November on an occasion Shrewsbury memorably won 2-1 with 10 men. But determined Hurst insists the prize means any pleasantries will be firmly put aside at Wembley on Sunday.

“It’ll be great to see Warney and the rest of the lads, but part of me would’ve preferred if it it was someone you didn’t have quite as good a relationship with,” the Town boss conceded.

“Once it starts I’m not going to think ‘oh I like Warney – I’ll take a couple of players off and mess about with the system’.

“It’ll be desperate to win the game. It is a little bit different but with the chance of playing Championship football next season they could be the nicest people in the world but the prize alone stands out massively for both of us.

“Whoever wins it’ll be an absolutely fantastic day and the other team won’t have nice feelings. But overall it’ll still be a great season. That’ll be a hard thing for us – to get the perspective and the understanding (of the whole season) – when basically you’re feeling like rubbish.”

Hurst is desperate for success on Sunday, which would mean Shrewsbury ending their record of four Wembley defeats, so his committed group of players are remembered in the best possible way after a stunning season of banishing the odds.

The pre-season relegation favourites stunned onlookers on their way to a promotion battle which eventually ended in a third-place finish.

The boss added: “It would absolutely cement everyone that’s been involved this season in the club’s history, rather than it being an absolutely fantastic year but not quite getting the credit the players deserve.

“I want it to happen for the players, yes it’s great for me and the staff, but for the players to be really recognised for an absolutely outstanding effort from what they go through, what’s been asked and demanding of them, over a 62-game season.

“It’s another third added on to the season. People moan about playing 50 games, it’s a great effort, it be great finishing it off on a massive high.”