Shrewsbury Town sweating on Grenada trio for Bradford FA Cup replay
Shrewsbury Town are likely to be without their Grenada trio for next week’s FA Cup replay at Bradford – unless they receive permission to return home early.
Defenders Aaron Pierre and Omar Beckles are joined by the newly called-up Ollie Norburn to represent the Spice Isle in this week’s Gold Cup qualifiers in the Concacaf Nations League.
Grenada are scheduled to play in St Kitts & Nevis on Thursday before a home clash against Belize on Monday, just a day before Town’s clash at Valley Parade.
Pierre, Beckles and new international Norburn – who qualifies for the nation through his grandfather – would not make the replay if returning after the Belize clash but, were Grenada to seal qualification with a win on Thursday, could be given dispensation to return.
Grenada need three points to rubber-stamp their place in the 2021 US Gold Cup tournament, though a point in St Kitts would be enough to guarantee a runners-up spot in the group, which would at least guarantee a two-legged play-off in March.
Town boss Sam Ricketts quipped: “I might send a private jet to get them back in time!
“Possibly we’ll be without them. It depends what happens in their first game. I think they need a couple of points to qualify so we’ll look into that and see what we can do. It would be a big ask for them to come back and get ready but you just never know.”
Ricketts’ side are without a League One clash on Saturday after the Doncaster trip was postponed due to international call-ups.
The Town boss revealed no contact has been received from England Under-20s in regards to Ryan Giles’ involvement. Giles was left out of the squad and it is not yet known if he is on the standby list.
