Defender Graham Coughlan has hailed Shrewsbury Town’s return to the automatic promotion places – and insisted they have all the ingredients to last the pace.

Town returned to the top three with a comfortable 4-1 success over Bournemouth at the Prostar Stadium on Saturday.

Coughlan admitted Shrewsbury had become lax for a spell in the second half – but insisted the victory illustrated Town have all the key ingredients for success this term.

“I thought we played well the first half, came out the second half a little bit sloppy,” said the former Rotherham, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday defender.

“We went with the crowd who were giving us the ‘ole, ole’ every time we passed the ball. We got sucked into that and we have to be a little bit more mature than that. 

“That’s for the fans to do, not for the players to get sucked into. 

“They are obviously enjoying themselves but we still have to do a professional job. 

“But it’s another win and another three points towards what we want to achieve. 

“There is good quality here. If we are not successful this season we can’t look, and we can’t blame, anybody else but ourselves. 

“We are a good team. We have good individuals, got quality, we can score goals, we can keep them out at the other end. 

“Put that together and that should breed success.”

Manager Paul Simpson, today preparing his team for tomorrow’s trip to Accrington Stanley, praised the impact of goal-scoring Football League debutant Gylfi Sigurdsson.

“I thought it was an excellent performance from such a young lad on his first League game,” said the Town boss.

“I thought he was absolutely outstanding – good passing, good awareness of others, good weight of pass when he played things in. 

“He has come in with a very, very high reputation. He is one of the better players at Reading.

“There is a long way to go, but what a great start to a football career in this country. 

“Hopefully over this next month, and who knows maybe even longer, we can benefit from having him here.”

By JAMES GARRISON