Shrewsbury fans the difference at home – Sam Ricketts
Sam Ricketts believes Shrewsbury Town’s home fans are the driving force behind his team’s late fightbacks.
Salop have rescued points inside the closing minutes twice in the last three games .
They turned around a desperate 1-0 reverse to Wycombe with a dramatic equaliser and winner, before saving a point against Scunthorpe on Saturday.
Without those four points, Town would have been level on points with AFC Wimbledon in the bottom four, and Ricketts insists it is the Montgomery Waters Meadow crowd driving the players on.
He said: “The crowd are huge, right to the end of the game again.
“What they see is a team giving all their effort and commitment. We probably played about 100 minutes – I wish the ball was in play 100 minutes – but they stuck with the team until the very end.
“They see a team that carries on going to the last seconds. We keep pushing and striving. I’m hugely grateful for that.
“We didn’t get the win but hopefully they see a team really fighting with no little quality as well.”
The Town boss said fans could easily have become despondent after watching their side go behind to Scunthorpe, but the players’ commitment shone through and provided encouragement.
“If you go a goal down against a side below you the fans can easily be upset and the players can be down,” added Ricketts. “But neither did. The supporters saw a performance and effort.
“At half-time you can hear them pushing their team on and it’s fantastic. It’s all you can ask for.
“Players have to make sure they give a performance the supporters go home saying ‘they really put their foot in’.”
Shrewsbury have scored 12 goals in the final 10 minutes of matches in all competitions this season. The point against Scunthorpe lifted Town to 14th, the highest they have been ithis season.
Ignoring last season’s remarkable run to the play-off final, the best finish Salop have achieved in the third tier since its rebranding is 16th.
“We need to keep going,” added Ricketts. “We go to Gillingham (on Saturday), it will be tough.
“I can’t do anything about anybody else’s performances.
“The league table looks nice but it’s so fine it can change very quickly.”
