Aristote Nsiala eager to cap great week off with Shrewsbury Town win

The 25-year-old defender became a father on Tuesday, only several hours before Salop's clash against Millwall.

Paul Hurst's men lost that game 2-1 – their fourth successive defeat – and being two points away from safety with five games left, Nsiala and the rest of the squad are determined to stop the rot against Keith Hill's charges.

On fatherhood, Nsiala said: "I'm still trying to catch up with some sleep now.

"A lot of the players told me it was an unbelievable feeling, and it has been amazing.

"It was weird (playing on Tuesday). It was a different feeling. I always go into games being nervous but I was just so relaxed.

"It was a different feeling to what I have had before.

"I cramped up in the second half, but I got through."

Nsiala – who has been a regular at the heart of defence alongside Mat Saddler – insists he thrives when under pressure.

He is expecting an all-out battle against Rochdale, and said: "I don't think it's going to be a tactical game, it's just going to be who wants it the most really. And we will be the ones that want it the most.

"It's about getting to those second balls and challenging for everything, going all-out.

"It's not going to be about experience or anything like that, just who wants it more.

"As a centre-half, you get a buzz when a team plays a lot of balls in the air and is direct.

"Some players don't (thrive under pressure), but I do. It switches you on, you know you have to run extra and concentrate more and have more willpower."

Nsiala – Town's first signing in January – knows boss Hurst very well after working under him at Grimsby Town.

On how the Shrews chief is during this current relegation fight, he said: "He's calm, he never loses his head. He's a calm person.

"He's still out there smiling and speaking to you as if you were winning games, and he tries to keep everyone together.

"That's the main thing. You don't want a manger to pick the players apart as that is just going to drag you down.

"He's tried to keep the same spirit from when I came in."

Nsiala spoke of the good mood in the dressing room, despite Town's current position.

He said: "A lot of teams when they get to this stage go down – not because of the way they play, it's because the changing room is not together and players may fix up plans for the next season.

"I don't get that sense from the lads. We win and we lose together. We have just got to keep going."

On the prospect of relegation, Nsiala added: "It's not going to happen. It's something none of us, as players, want, or the manager.

"It's always squeaky down at the bottom, and at the top, at this time of the season.

"It's about staying calm and doing the job. We have lost the last few games but that doesn't mean we are going to lose the games that are going to come.

"Everybody here is still together and still smiling – we will pull through.

"We are not going to panic. We have all bonded – we have all got to do a job, and that's it."