Bernard McNally: Mental test huge for Shrewsbury Town

It is now eight games in a row that Town have conceded the first goal and that's obviously not good at all. As a manager you want your team to be positive and to start well.

If you're going out on the pitch with the fear and trepidation of a 'we don't want to concede' mentality, then it's a problem.

Nobody wants to concede goals, we know that, but you don't want your side to go out there thinking 'oh I hope we can last 20 minutes' in the back of their minds.

I've been on a number of runs at both West Brom and Shrewsbury. There were times when we'd lost two, but going into the third game, you have to make sure as a group of players when going on to that pitch – regardless of which players the management has picked – you've got to get yourself together.

Nobody else can do it bar those players. They need to say to themselves, 'look, we have to be mentally strong and do this.' They need to stick together and grind a result out.

You have to create the change and get away from everything that's going on.

You need to turn that corner, but that's going to take mental strength from every single player, really putting their life on the line and putting their foot in front of the ball in the six-yard box and going to win headers.

They're going to unbeaten Bradford on Saturday, who are second, and really that might suit Micky's side better because there won't be as much pressure or expectation on them.

They're playing away from home and really it's Bradford's to lose.

Sometimes the mental side of the game can be more important than the technical side. You often see the lower league sides, who are not technically as good, win in the cup competitions.

That is the mental side, the 'we're not going to be broken down' part and 'we're going to come out and win the ball'.

As a player I refused to be the one that got caught for a chance or a goal. I would say to myself 'I'm going to track my runner' all of the way through the 90-odd minutes.

I wasn't going to be the one who doesn't follow the runner or doesn't get the ball.

It can be that kind of minute detail, if you have 11 individuals doing that, that will mean you don't concede.

Bradford will feel the weight of expectation at Valley Parade and they'll have to deal with that.

Micky will try and heap the pressure on them and take it off his players. I'm just hopeful, along with so many others, that they can go up there and give almost a cup performance.

We're the underdogs, now let's go and grab three points.

The players will be looking at League One and thinking, despite not winning, if we manage to get two results then we'd be laughing, and there would then be far less pressure.

Shrewsbury, at times, have shown that they can keep possession and make chances. Some of the performances, in parts, have been very good.

They're unbeaten in three in the league, there's no reason why they can't carry that on. I'm sure that's what Micky will be try to establish.