Michael Appleton hails Shrewsbury Town reaction to quick turnaround after Grimsby Town point

Salop are now unbeaten in five home matches but had to come from behind in the first half after trailing to Charles Vernam's penalty after the half hour mark. John Marquis, who scored the winner at non-league Sutton on Saturday night, headed home from a Sam Clucas cross in first half stoppage time to restore parity and, ultimately, share the spoils on an evening which didn't prove to be quite as frenetic as their last outing here against Gillingham.

After clocking out in the early hours of Sunday morning, the emphasis of the Town squad in the days since has been on recovery after a testing evening in London, a challenge they eventually overcame having expended plenty of energy - but there was little time for recuperation and many of those players were asked to give their all again here.

Coupled with an injury to Tom Sang, and the suspensions being served by Will Boyle and Josh Ruffels, Appleton's options were especially limited, but they managed to claim a point that was eventually well deserved having comfortably held Grimsby at arms' length.

"There weren't great deals of quality tonight, but the one real bit of quality in terms of the level of the cross from Sam Clucas and the ability to bury the header was pleasing," Appleton reasoned. "I am mindful that the players got back here at 1am on Sunday morning.

"The turnaround is quick, we played late Saturday night and it went to extra time, which is 120 minutes in the legs and a lot of those players had to go and do it again. I wouldn't have wanted to make that excuse before the game, but it had a part to play in what happened tonight.

"I was frustrated with the lack of threat in the second half, but sometimes circumstances dictate and, as I say, Grimsby played 3pm Saturday afternoon, at home, and didn't have to do any travelling Friday or Saturday.

"We played 120 minutes and spent five hours on the bus on Friday and five hours on the bus on Saturday. You can imagine the difference in terms of the preparation of both teams. All that considered, I have to be slightly happier than disappointed."

In the defence of both sides here, the conditions weren't particularly conducive to a football-friendly game; there were plenty of high, hanging balls which had to be dealt with, especially by those in blue and amber shirts, on a wet and windy night in Shropshire, typical of the time of year.

"The elements didn't help the game, with the wind etc," Appleton reflected. "It is a fair-ish point. There wasn't loads of quality in the game and I put that down to conditions. We've come up against a half decent side. We were a little frustrated with the manner in which we fell behind - I thought the ref maybe caved in to the pressure on what they thought was a penalty prior to that.

"They responded quite well, scored a decent goal. The second half sort of petered out, but it was difficult because there were a few players missing tonight. Kabs came off, we had to put Lloydy back there and we were limited in our options and it showed a little bit."