Steve Cotterill: Shrewsbury Town boss to carry on working from home, via Zoom

Steve Cotterill brought in Aaron Wilbraham as his number two a few days after taking over as Shrewsbury's new boss on 27 November

Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill will carry on working from home, managing the club by phone and Zoom calls, following his 33 days in hospital recovering from Covid-19.

Assistant manager Aaron Wilbraham has taken daily charge since Cotterill, 56, was admitted to hospital on 15 January.

But he says there is "no timescale" on when Cotterill will be allowed back on the training ground or at a match.

"He's missing the boys. He's desperate to come back," said Wilbraham.

"But, for the moment, he's going to have to continue what he's been doing, on the phone and on the Zooms," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"It's a lot better now he's at home because he's got a lot more access to things but there's no way the specialist would let him be in a position to return at the moment.

"He's got to get his health right. That's the most important thing.

"We couldn't put any timescale on when he's likely to come back in for training."

Shrewsbury, 17th in League One, who had Saturday's home game with Ipswich Town called off at very late notice because of a frozen pitch, are due to go to Accrington on Saturday.

December's reverse fixture ended up as a 2-2 draw - and it was the day Wilbraham came in as Cotterill's number two and met the players in the dressing room before the game.

Social media 'boost' for Town boss

Wilbraham revealed that one of the things that has most served as a tonic for Cotterill in his recovery has been all his many messages of goodwill on social media - even though he does not use it.

"He's not on social media,"said Wilbraham. "He doesn't do any of that.

"But he's been made aware of the support and all the love and affection he's had off people, from the fans. And not just Shrewsbury Town fans but fans from all the clubs he's been at.

"It has been overwhelming. It's given him another boost."

But the biggest of all was being allowed back to his Bristol home to see his wife - for the first time in over a month, since first being admitted to Bristol Royal Infirmary.

"She's just delighted he's home," said Wilbraham. "They've not been able to see each other for the whole time he's been in hospital, so it's great for him and his family to be back home.

"She was dropping off a lot of his personal belongings in the hospital and was only about 30 metres away from him but they still weren't allowed to see each other because of the Covid restrictions. That must have been so frustrating. They've been together a long time."