Micky Mellon: Shrewsbury Town won't get carried away after EFL Cup win

Salop's League One season got under way with a narrow defeat to recently-relegated MK Dons but there were plenty of positives.

And Town supporters' optimism increased as Mellon's charges dumped Championship outfit Huddersfield Town out of the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.

League trips to Coventry and Charlton are next on the horizon and Mellon insists his side will be focused on getting their first League One points.

"Yes, it is (exciting) and it's all credit to the players," said the Shrewsbury chief.

"They come in and work hard every day and they do everything that's asked of them.

"They want to do very well and they're determined that they're going to get successes like they did against Huddersfield.

"But they're a group that also won't get carried away, they'll rest and they'll expect between themselves to go again at another massive game on Saturday and we'll go down there and give Coventry a battle as well."

The Town boss faces an anxious wait as he monitors the fitness of forward AJ Leitch-Smith. The former Port Vale man scored his first Shrewsbury goal 20 seconds into the tie against the Terriers.

But the frontman was replaced at the break by loan debutant Ivan Toney.

Mellon revealed that the substitution came after Leitch-Smith felt a tweak in his hamstring.

Trips to the Ricoh Arena and The Valley Stadium will make it four matches in 10 days for Town. And with progression secured in the EFL Cup, Mellon is all too aware that he has to fine-tune his squad to last for the long haul.

"Consistency is tough because already we have 46 league games, we have three EFL Trophy games and the League Cup and FA Cup – that's 51 guaranteed," he said.

"So to imagine that you're going to go through a whole league season with no need to draw upon your group with injuries and suspensions or losses of form or whatever, you'd be wrong."