Steve Cotterill's battling brings a tear to your eye...we wanted to show we are fighting with him – Shrewsbury Town banner organisers

Cotterill has been in hospital with a severe bout of Covid-19 for more than a month and has missed a number of Shrewsbury games, though he continues pulling the strings behind the scenes while working hard from his ward bed.

And members of Town's Supporters' Parliament were keen to show the absent boss their gratitude for him going 'above and beyond' and 'putting his body on the line' for the football club.

The parliament's Helen Hall came up with the idea of fundraising for a banner in support of Cotterill on Thursday and, having made the idea public, the cost of covering the banner was smashed in half an hour.

Salop fans, as well as supporters of Cotterill's former club Bristol City, then pushed the target well beyond £1,000 and the revised figure of £2,500 in a matter of hours. Extra money raised from the fundraiser will go towards NHS charities on the frontline of the pandemic.

The figure currently stands at £2,900. You can donate here.

The banner, designed by Town media team member Matt Burgess and created by Allun Williams of Cyclone Sign and Print, was brought to life in quick time and placed over the seats above the home dugout at Montgomery Waters Meadow ahead of Saturday's League One clash against Ipswich, which was postponed late on by officials.

Mike Davis, co-chairman of the Supporters' Parliament, said: "We were approached in the middle of the week by Helen Hall at the supporters' parliament, who had the idea.

"It's then been a massive joint effort between us all to get it ready for the game.

"Obviously the gaffer is giving his all for us from his hospital bed, he's going above and beyond, so we wanted to show exactly how much we appreciate that."

On the outpouring of love for Cotterill, Davis smiled: "I think results help! Anybody that is willing to do what he's doing, going above and beyond, none of us expect him to be doing what he is doing, from his hospital bed.

"Some of the stories bring a tear to your eye at times with just exactly what he's going through, how much he is pushing and fighting for us as a club.

"We're fighting back with him.

"It was a 24-hour turnaround, the idea came about Thursday and we approached the club who gave us the go-ahead straight away.

"Matt (Burgess, media team) jumped straight on it with the design and the support from Allun Williams from Cyclone has been brilliant, we managed to get it turned around and covered the cost of the banner within half an hour."

Cotterill was this week placed on a three-day high dosage steroid drip in hospital to help him combat the virus.

Doctors are hopeful that the method could help the Town boss out of hospital before long, having seen success on other Covid patients.

Shrewsbury have been on a remarkable run of form since Cotterill's late November appointment. They have won seven of their 12 league fixtures under the boss, who has not been in the dugout since the side returned from the three-week break due to Town's widespread Covid outbreak last month.

Town remain 17th in League One and nine points clear of the drop zone despite not playing this weekend. When Cotterill took over two-and-a-half months ago, Shrews were second-bottom and five points adrift of safety.

Joint-chairman of the Supporters' Parliament and Town supporter liaison officer Davis was keen to offer his well wishes to fellow chair and SLO Roger Groves, who this week contracted Covid-19.

He tweeted: "Just want to also put out a huge get well soon to my partner in crime Roger Groves who’s suffering from Covid. Get well soon Rog!!"