Steve Cotterill: Shrewsbury confidence is key

Salop were denied the opportunity to make it four wins on the spin against Peterborough United at the weekend when the bitterly cold weather conditions meant the game had to be postponed.

But despite that, they will head into Christmas in good spirits after three important wins, firstly against Posh in the FA Cup, then league wins over Lincoln and Bolton.

And the boss says his side are benefitting from a surge in confidence those results have given them.

He said: “I think when we went into the FA Cup game – we were on the back of a tough run of games, and with the injuries on top of it, I don’t think we were as confident then as we are now.

“It’s natural if you are winning games the team is going to be more confident.

“Confidence is a strange thing. But the one thing you can’t do (as a manager) is give your team confidence.

“If there was a bottle of confidence for sale, then there wouldn’t be any left on the shelves because every manager would be buying it.

“But I think that comes from them. It comes from work on the training ground, and it comes from them getting pictures and knowing what they are doing.

“I’d say they are slightly more confident now, but there is nothing wrong with that – as long as it doesn’t ever grow to arrogance, and I don’t see that with our boys.”