Shropshire Star

Aaron Wilbraham proud of 'unbelievable' Shrewsbury Town effort

Proud assistant boss Aaron Wilbraham has hailed the 'unbelievable' efforts of battling Shrewsbury Town after they went down to a hard-fought defeat FA Cup defeat at Southampton.

Published
Last updated

Town - playing their first match for three weeks after the significant Covid-19 breakout which hospitalised manager Steve Cotterill, who missed the tie - exited the competition after a 2-0 defeat in the delayed third round tie but were in the contest until the very end, when Saints star James Ward-Prowse curled in a late second.

Tireless Shrewsbury created some decent chances through Shaun Whalley and a couple of set-pieces late on. At the other end the visitors, led by Wilbraham and academy boss David Longwell, defended heroically to keep out their Premier League high-flying hosts.

"The togetherness they showed, putting the bodies on the line, I'm really proud," said Wilbraham.

"The lads have done that since the gaffer has took over, that's what he's got the lads doing in this formation.

"We always feel we're in the game with those back lads and those in front of them, we defend from the front.

"I thought Dan Udoh worked so hard against three players all night, to work them one way to wait for the right trigger to press.

"We came up against a strong Southampton side and to put the bodies on the line and defend how they did, I thought they were unbelievable to be honest."

Town gave debuts to defender Matthew Pennington and attacker Harry Chapman, both January loan signings, and the pair caught the eye.

Saints youngster Daniel N'Lundulu opened the scoring after 17 minutes with a controversial strike that Town thought hit an arm in the build-up.

But the League One side responded excellently and caused the Saints a number of problems.

Town went for a late equaliser with a number of attacking substitutes and defended resolutely until the death, when Ward-Prowse's trademark set-piece beat Matija Sarkic.

"In the first half we had a lot better chances and we were always in the game until the final minute," stand-in chief Wilbraham added.

"We obviously had to change things like put two strikers on because we wanted a goal, it's the FA Cup, we wanted to get through.

"We knew they might break a little bit on us in that formation, but we gave away the free-kick and we know what James Ward-Prowse can do, we've watched his free-kicks all week.

"I thought Mati (Sarkic) was unlucky but it's a great free-kick and we were always in the game until the last minute. I'm really proud of the boys.

"They could've used all the excuses in the world, the manager not being here, people suffering from the virus, the lack of training, but no-one used any excuses.

"Ollie Norburn getting the boys together in a huddle, letting them know the gaffer was watching and how proud he'd be, just unbelievably proud."

Cotterill had his laptop delivered to his Bristol hospital so he could watch the delayed third round tie as he continues to recover.

Wilbraham, who was the manager's captain at Bristol City, said the boss had wished him well ahead of kick-off and had sent a text at full-time asking if there had been any injuries ahead of Saturday's trip to Sunderland.

"I've been in contact with him over the last couple of days. it's been a scary couple of weeks," Town's No.2 added. "He had his laptop and other things dropped off at the hospital so he could watch the game, he was definitely watching.

"I think the boys definitely made him proud.

"He asked me how I was feeling, I said I was looking forward to it, and he said good.

"He knew the prep we'd done, we tried to mirror it like he did which is difficult with the energy he brings every day.

"The boys buy into his knowledge and tactical awareness, which is so good. We've missed that.

"Me and Dave have learned so much from the gaffer in a short amount of time and me being his player and captain at Bristol City I know what he likes so it made it easy because we'd took so much from him."

Wilbraham added: "The last thing I said to the boys was that the manager is sat in a hospital bed watching this and after five or 10 minutes I want him sat up excited at the way you've started the game.

"I know he'll have been proud but he'll also be looking to the next game on Saturday which is what he's like.

"He text asking about a couple of people, injuries and that, he's obviously concerned about Saturday."