Sam Ricketts says ‘warrior’ Ollie Norburn will fight on for Shrewsbury Town
Sam Ricketts has backed ‘warrior’ stand-in captain Ollie Norburn to continue to playing through the pain barrier for Shrewsbury.
The midfielder, who has been Town’s skipper in the absence of Mat Sadler, has struggled with an Achilles injury in recent weeks but saw out 90 minutes in the vital late draw against Scunthorpe.
The former Tranmere man, who recently admitted the label of record transfer signing has been a burden, has been a regular in the heart of midfield for both John Askey and Ricketts since joining last summer.
Ricketts revealed he had to make the call to bring Norburn off during half-time at Southend a fortnight ago as the battling midfielder wanted to play on.
And the Salop boss says that the former Leicester schoolboy typifies his team’s drive and has passion for the captain’s armband.
“Ollie was alright. He was stretching a little bit at the end against Scunthorpe,” said Ricketts.
“I asked him (if he could stay on) and Ollie being Ollie, he wants to carry on.
“He wears the captain’s armband with huge pride and he knows the significance of what it means for the supporters.
“So he typifies our drive and determination.
“Hopefully he’ll be OK. He’s a fighter and a warrior who wanted to carry on.”
Norburn has made 45 appearance this season, joint-third highest in the Town squad behind Luke Waterfall and Josh Laurent.
