Shropshire Star

FA Cup: Shrewsbury v Peterborough - Shrews aim to make most of Posh date

The tough games keep on coming for Shrewsbury Town – but this time it is in the Cup rather than the league.

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Steve Cotterill’s side welcome Peterborough United to Montgomery Waters Meadow tomorrow for their FA Cup second-round clash.

Town, who have had lots of success in this competition in the last few years, breezed past York City in the last round after a dominant first-half display which could have left them four goals up.

Teams across the country are desperate to make it into the third round draw with the prospect of an exciting tie against a Premier League club being a motivator for players.

And Cotterill will come up against another manager he has previously coached when they take on Posh.

A few weeks ago it was Michael Duff at Barnsley, and this time it will be Grant McCann.

He said: “Grant McCann was another young player I gave a debut to when he came to Cheltenham on loan from West Ham all those years ago.

“And I know Cliffy Byrne, his assistant, who is another really good guy, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing them this weekend as well.

“We’re not too familiar with them because we haven’t played them yet.

“Ideally, you don’t want to play a team in your own division because you know you’ve got them again.

“For example, we’ve got Peterborough again in a couple of weeks.

“It’s not ideal, but in another breath, it could be ideal if that makes sense.

“The thing about it is that it will keep us mentally sharp when playing teams from our own division.”

Shrews have had terrible luck on the injury front this season.

Last week Cotterill revealed Elliott Bennett could miss up to 12 weeks with a calf problem – although the club hope to have him back sooner.

There is no update on Aiden O’Brien and Julien Dacosta as they await to see a specialist in London regarding their injuries.

Their appointments are booked for early December, where they will likely learn if they require surgery or not.

Town were boosted last week by Carl Winchester playing 90 minutes for the first time since their last FA Cup game.

He had to come off against York in the seventh minute due to an injury he first sustained during training. The midfielder played well at Hillsborough, and he managed to complete the whole game.

It has been a difficult period for Salop, but thankfully their preparation for this weekend’s game has been fairly routine according to Cotterill.

He said: “We haven’t had a bad week. Nothing’s got any better, and nothing’s got any worse, so we’ve had an okay week this week.

“No drama or injuries to date, so we’ll be as we’ve been.”

The visitors sit fourth in League One but their recent form has been indifferent with two defeats on the bounce.