Shrewsbury v Birmingham: Gareth Ainsworth issues confident message ahead of Blues clash

The 51-year-old has a big task to turn around Salop's fortunes as they sit bottom of the League One table.

And with the cold weather sweeping across the UK this week, preparations for the game have been far from ideal.

"Honestly it's been a whirlwind of a week and it has only been seven days since I met the boys," he said.

"If everyone looks outside their window they'll realise that we are covered in snow and it's been like that for a few days. 

"It's incredible because I went home for a 24-hour stint as my daughter was 21 this week so I went down south and there is nothing.

"It's ridiculous. You come up here and it is sort of like Lapland.

"We have had to be creative finding different ways to get the boys training and getting messages into them.

"I'm glad I've got a few games under my belt because I think a rookie manager would be all over the place at the moment.

"We've been here before, we know this happens and yeah we've worked around it.

"The boys have been really receptive and responsive to what I want and hopefully we can get off to a good start although it will be a very tough game on Saturday."

Ainsworth confirmed Morgan Feeney, who has an ankle problem, and Josh Kayode, who has been out since August with a calf issue, are unlikely to be fit for the match. 

But Josh Feeney, who was subbed off in the EFL Trophy loss against Walsall with a hamstring problem, does have a chance of featuring.

The game against high-flying Birmingham City is a daunting proposition for Ainsworth and his Town team who have won just twice this season across all competitions.

The new boss has brought energy to the role in his very short spell in charge so far and he is convinced his players are more than capable of getting a result this weekend.

He continued: "I believe, sat here, I firmly believe, we can win that game on Saturday.

"It's 11 against 11, you know, it's Birmingham, they've spent a lot of money, they're a big club, there's Premier League history and all that, but we've all been in teams where you beat somebody, and it's not impossible.

"I'm very much a fairytale guy and an underdog guy and there's no reason we can't win this game on Saturday, we'll be going for it but what I want to see is a reaction from the boys, from what I've seen really in the weeks gone by and hopefully I'll get it.

"It is about disrupting them, that's big for me, it's probably been one of the key aspects of my career, you know, I'm not very concerned about having the majority of possession, I want the majority of the goals, you know, that's what wins games."