"For Paul Hurst, the ambitious Shrewsbury Town manager, Sunday afternoon's League One play-off final is the football equivalent of a Casablanca moment: of all the teams in all the world, he had to be drawn against Rotherham. This was the club where he spent the entirety of his playing career, turning out in the red and white shirt for 15 seasons between 1993 and 2008, a defensive stalwart as the club gained promotion from League Two, then League One before spending four seasons in the Championship. Now he is playing them for the chance to gain elevation to football's second tier. ""I don't know if it was because I wasn't very good and couldn't secure a move anywhere else,"" he says of his one-club record, his accent giving hint of his Yorkshire origins. ""A lot of people have said it's fate that we're playing them. All I know is, once the game starts, my allegiance is clearly with Shrewsbury."" As if the challenge was not already substantial enough, the identity of the manager in the opposition technical area makes this the most personal of encounters for Hurst: he played directly behind Paul Warne for Rotherham more than 200 times across six seasons. Not that he expects any cordiality once the whistle blows. ""One thing I know about Warnie, he's hugely competitive,"" says Hurst. ""But then so am I. Sometimes that came between us. I can remember one training session, he booted me and I booted him straight back. For that ten minutes we didn't like each other. It was soon forgotten, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have a few words [during the game]."" Paul Hurst (left) in action for Rotherham against Arsenal in 2003 Credit: GETTY MAGES Meeting up with his old mate and his old club in such an auspicious match was not something Hurst ever imagined happening. Not least because, when the season began, rather than candidates for promotion to the Championship Shrewsbury were universally reckoned favourites for relegation. So much so, that, as a motivational spur, the manager pinned to the dressing room wall a league table published by a bookmaker which predicted that the club was destined for the drop. ""Oh, we've massively surprised ourselves,"" he says. ""Having managed to stay in the league last year, I was optimistic we could survive a little more comfortably this season. But this is all a little surreal; to be in with a shout for automatic promotion for so long was an amazing achievement in itself."" Amazing because, ever since Hurst took over in December 2016, he has been working with one of the smallest budgets in League One. So modest are finances in this part of Shropshire that, when he tried to sign a player last summer, he was unable to match the terms being offered by Lincoln City, then freshly promoted from the National League. ""When I was at Rotherham, the lads who used to play cards on the bus would say that realistically those with the most money won, because they could keep going and going till everyone else bottled out. I'm trying to prove them wrong, show it's not all about money."" Paul Hurst celebrating with his players after they reached the play-off final Credit: getty images Instead of cash, as his team have sought promotion, Hurst says he has relied on two things: science and spirit. The science comes from relentlessly tracking how far each of his players runs in a game, setting targets then subtly increasing them once they have been reached. ""When we hit a certain number, more often than not we won. We certainly didn't lose,"" he says. ""People might say every team works hard. Trust me, some work harder than others."" And, according to the club's Congolese international centre back Aristote Nsiala, the spirit has been generated among the club's small, tight-knit first team squad by the manager's approach. ""His man management is on a different level,"" says Nsiala. ""He just lets you play. Yeah, we do go through formations, watch videos, do our homework. But he makes it clear he believes in his players and lets you get on with it. Every day you come in he's always got a smile on his face."" Which, Hurst suggests, is not entirely accidental. ""If you enjoy going into work, you'll work harder, whatever you do for a living,"" he says. ''And we work hard."" It is a managerial approach which has been noted: as Shrewsbury have made their way to Wembley, so Hurst's name has increasingly been mentioned in connection with vacancies at more renowned clubs. Paul Hurst has been linked with bigger clubs Credit: pa ""I'm not trying to pretend that I don't realise my stock has risen, I've had far more personal publicity than I ever have had before,"" he says. ""But that is only a by-product of the team and club doing well. I hope I am a part of that, allowing people to do their jobs. But I am only a part. From my point of view it's nice people are talking, it proves we are doing something right."" Though as he approaches by far the most important game of his managerial career, he accepts that all of the attributes which have taken Shrewsbury this far are likely to be matched by their opponents. ""We are very similar,"" he says of sides who beat each other 1-0 during the league season. ""Two very fit teams, working very hard. Paul and I are not afraid as managers to highlight work rate as one of our strengths."" It is, he adds, something that both learned from their time together on the pitch. ""The team Paul and I had most success with at Rotherham, I don't think I'll hurt anybody's feelings by saying this, we weren't the most talented group. But we gave 100 per cent. Nobody enjoyed playing us. Paul ran and ran and ran. He was so fit, he could probably do that now."" Though he hopes at Wembley that Warne will be running away empty-handed."
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