Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill heaps praise on supporters

Town’s League One campaign – which had them on the fringes of the play-off battle a couple of months ago – has petered out somewhat with a run of eight games without a win.

And boss Steve Cotterill would dearly love to finish well in their final home game of the season against Bristol Rovers tonight and last match of the campaign at Lincoln City on Sunday.

“I want that for everybody at the football club – to get a couple of good results is really important,” he said. “The supporters have been brilliant all season, and we want them to be able to have a cheer as well.

“It would be nice if we could do that on Tuesday evening.

“We need to stay out after the game, and appreciate what the fans have given us this season.

“We need to have a little walk around at the end and say a big thank you for all the support that we have had.

“Then we go to Lincoln, when all our fans will be in the one stand, and that will be easy for us to make sure we say thank you.

“We can then close the book on this season and this chapter.”

Despite that winless run stretching back to March 11, Town have played all of League One’s big-hitters during that time – and Cotterill does not believe it will take much to turn that form around to finish with a flourish.

“I think it is just a little bit more sharpness and belief and confidence,” he said. “When you are on the run that we are on, and the lads keep getting banged on the head with defeats, it doesn’t matter what we say – it will affect them.

“We probably just need to go out there, get a goal and get in front.

“Then you will see all those players come back to what we saw before we hit this bump in the road in mid-March.”

Though Town slipped to 13th with defeat against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, victory would keep them in the hunt for a top-10 finish going into the final day.

They go into tonight five points adrift of 10th-placed Charlton Athletic, who only have one match left to play.

Town have only achieved that in the third tier once – Paul Hurst’s play-off finalists of 2017/18 – since being relegated from the second tier back in 1989.

“I want it so badly for the club to finish in that top 10,” said Cotterill. “With the shift the players have put in this season I want it so badly for them to try and finish in the top half and the top 10. We have been there too long now to want to give that up easy.

“We just want to finish well in what has been a top season, and I mean that with what we have had to deal with as well.

“I think everything was going to catch up with us sooner or later, that’s just the reality of it all.”

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