Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury Town players to continue fighting
Shrewsbury Town manager Paul Hurst has backed his players to continue fighting after insisting he does not see a disciplinary problem.
Nine-men Salop went down to a commendable 2-1 reversal at second-placed Sheffield United after seeing Jim O'Brien and Abu Ogogo both dismissed in the first period.
Town went into the game with the division's poorest disciplinary record, with the Bramall Lane red cards their fifth and sixth of the season.
But Hurst, who suffered a first defeat in five games as Town boss, sees no problem with his side's discipline, despite admitting the 'understanding of game situations' could be better.
The Shrewsbury chief questioned referee Darren Deadman's understanding of the rules after the defeat, with new league rules on punishment for fouls inside the area seemingly contradicting Deadman's decision on O'Brien.
"The discipline doesn't concern me and I haven't really looked at what's gone on before with that side of things," said the boss.
"I'm not sure there's a massive discipline problem – or I don't see that.
"I'm not going to ask my players to suddenly start shirking challenges. We are second-bottom, we need people that are willing to fight.
"I said to them at half-time 'stay on the pitch, you've got to battle and work hard like never before but I don't want anyone else sent off' – and they managed to do that.
"The two cards? I said my thoughts on the first one and I need a better view for the second, you could do with Sky Sports here and for them to analyse it and then I could totally say yes.
"He's just slightly late, but he's honest. We've seen Abs fly into tackles and I love that about him. I don't want to take that away from him.
"If he's gone high over the top of the ball it's a red card."
Hurst confirmed that both Shaun Whalley and Ethan Jones were left out of the 18 at Bramall Lane due to injuries picked up on the eve of the visit.
"They both trained on Friday and were injured on game day," said Hurst.
