Shrewsbury Town coach Dave Edwards has stated that the Shropshire club are too big to be in League Two after they secured survival at the weekend.
Victory over Oldham Athletic secured Salop’s status in the EFL for next season, marking the final touch to an impressive turnaround after Gavin Cowan was given the reins at the New Meadow to avoid back-to-back relegations.
Town Aim For Promotion
With eight wins since his appointment from National League strugglers Brackley Town, Cowan and his staff have put the club 10 points clear of Barrow in 23rd, with a maximum of nine points left to claim for the Bluebirds.
Speaking to the Shropshire Star after their survival was confirmed, first-team coach Dave Edwards has claimed that Salop do not belong down in League Two.
“We’re too big a football club to be in non-league. I think we’re too big a football club to even be in League Two, I see us as a League One club as a minimum and we’ve got to try and build to get back there.
“It’s going to be hard, obviously, but we’ve managed to stop the rot a little bit and start to turn around what had been happening before us.
“I’m really, really proud of that, with the help of the chairman Roland Wycherley and Liam Dooley as well.
“I wouldn’t say it was a risk for them to appoint Gav, but it was a really bold decision and they deserve an awful amount of credit for doing that because I know there’s a lot of people who didn’t think it was right at the time.
“I think having people who are so close to the football club has really helped and Gav is definitely that, like myself, like Jamie.”
Future Looks Promising For Town
Gavin Cowan has done an impressive job since coming in at Shrewsbury Town, especially in his first few games in charge, claiming five wins in a row, including against promotion challengers like Salford City, Swindon Town and Notts County.
However, as much as the momentum is with them now, a full summer of rest will mean that Cowan and his staff will have to refind that spark going into next season as well as undergo some wholesale changes to the playing squad.
Top of their shopping list will likely be a new forward to try and find a new spark to mount a promotion challenge, with George Lloyd standing with Will Boyle as the club’s top league scorers this campaign on four goals.
While the tide is turning in the right direction for Shrewsbury, there is still a long way back to try and get into League One, especially with some quality sides at the top missing out on promotion this time on top of four well-placed clubs coming down into the fourth tier.
