Cotterill ‘getting better’ in hospital with Covid
BURTON Albion have sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery to former player Steve Cotterill, who is recovering from Covid-19 in hospital.
Cotterill is also manager of their next opponents, Shrewsbury Town, although it would seem unlikely that he will be well enough to be in the dugout when the Shrews visit the Pirelli Stadium a week today.
The 56-year-old was admitted to hospital near his family home in Bristol on Friday after his symptoms worsened.
He spent time in intensive care but appears to have turned the corner.
Shrewsbury play Southampton in the FA Cup third round tonight and Cotterill will watch on TV from hospital.
“I can tell he’s getting better as he’s begun to crack jokes,” assistant manager Aaron Wilbraham told Radio Shropshire.
“He’s told me to tell the boys to say he’ll be watching from his hospital bed, so they’d better be at it.
“We’ve really missed his energy around the place. He’s been really poorly with it for the last two weeks and he was in intensive care over the weekend. But his voice now sounds a lot better.”
Wilbraham has taken the reins for now, assisted by academy coach David Longwell.
The FA Cup tie was originally called off on January 9 after a coronavirus outbreak at the League One club.
Shrewsbury have one other member of their playing staff isolating after testing positive and had Saturday’s League One game against Lincoln City postponed.
The Shrews remain unbeaten in seven League One matches since Cotterill took over as manager on November 27, four of those games ending in 1-0 wins, although tonight’s will be their first game in 2021.
MK DONS manager Russell Martin has defended former Derby County centre-half Richard Keogh’s decision to return to the Championship with Huddersfield Town.
Dons supporters have suggested Keogh has been disloyal after being offered a route back into the game with their club following his sacking by Derby.
“If you’re looking from the outside, it’s an easy thing to assume,” said Martin.
“It’s a difficult one. I’ve thought about it, I’m not too dissimilar in age to Richard.
“He was really invested in what we were doing, which I thought may have given us more of a chance to keep him here, but he made the decision and the club have got a good deal.
“I’m not going to sit here and say he’s disloyal because you learn quickly in football when the boot is on the other foot – as he found out at Derby when he was dismissed.
“It’s not a case of loyalty but he weighed things up and the club made sure it was viable for us as well. I told Richard how I feel about it. I understand it. We put in a lot of effort to get him, to get him fit and get him to a place where he is performing well. Of course, I’m disappointed but not in him, just the situation.
“I understand his desire to go and play at that level again and he wants to have another go at it. And his other motivations because of what happened at his previous club.
“I’m not going to attack Richard at all. It hurts, we’re disappointed and we’re losing a very good player. Ultimately, it hurt us as a team as well.”
The Dons have made defender Warren O’hora’s stay permanent after the 21-year-old centre-half spent the first half of the season on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.