Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has praised the job conducted by Steve Cotterill at Shrewsbury Town, dialling back his previous comments at the start of the season surrounding the 58-year-old’s style of play.
Rovers take on Shrewsbury in their penultimate game of the 2022/23 season for the reverse fixture of a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at the Mem back in August where Barton was scathing in his assessment of the visitors’ gamesmanship and blatant direct approach. Cotterill was also subjected to some vile abuse at the end of the game by a small group of Rovers fans.
The contest in Shropshire will be between League One’s 13th and 15th-placed sides, meaning a distinct lack of consequence and importance on the result, but six weeks ago Shrewsbury were very much in the play-off race. A run of seven defeats from eight matches has ended those hopes, but the Shrews have largely overachieved having finished 18th last term after periods where they looked in danger of being relegated.
