Mellon: Danny found us a gem in Leutwiler
Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon has praised coach Danny Coyne for unearthing a gem in goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler.
The manager tasked Coyne with finding him a new number one over the summer and, despite throwing a few names into the hat himself, Leutwiler was the man the goalkeeping coach put forward.
The former FC Basle star has gone on to repay that faith by keeping 20 clean sheets in League Two this season -with the 'keeper looking set to break the club record of 21 achieved back in the 1967/68 campaign.
And Mellon is pleased Coyne managed to spot the former Switzerland Under-20 international who was released over the summer by Middlesbrough.
"The credit for Jayson must go to Danny Coyne," Mellon said.
"I tasked him with the job of finding me a goalkeeper. I flung a couple of ideas at him but he came back and said Jayson was the best.
"He believed he had the right mentality, was at the right stage in his career and had the right character to want to come here and improve.
"So far all that has proved to be true because he has been superb.
"Like a lot of them he came here to play first team football and he has taken his chance.
"He has continued to improve and I think he can still get better which is great news for the club."
Mellon feels Leutwiler's game has progressed throughout the season with the 'keeper particularly getting more vocal as he gains more experience.
"He is loud and he is getting better at that," the boss said.
"You have to take into consideration that he is not from these shores but his English is probably better than mine.
"We've been absolutely delighted with him."
Despite being close to breaking the clean sheet record, Mellon believes entering the history books won't count for much if Town don't go on to secure promotion.
"They defend as a team, they work hard as a team and they have done terrific to keep so many clean sheets up until now," Mellon said.
"But there are still five games to go and we have to keep those standards high because we want to win promotion and win the league.
"Nothing has been achieved yet. The lads have done really well but they have to continue that."
