Paul Hurst hails 'fantastic' Shrewsbury as League One status all but confirmed
Paul Hurst hailed the heroic efforts of his players as Shrewsbury almost put the seal on their League One survival with a fine 1-0 victory over Southend.
A pitch invasion at Greenhous Meadow marked the full-time whistle as Junior Brown's header sparked wild celebrations.
Town are all-but safe, with a 10 goal difference swing needed for Port Vale to turn things around.
Hurst lauded his players, adding that they deserved the victory against the play-off chasing Shrimpers.
"Before we talk about anything else, on today itself, we talked about pressure going in and I thought the players handed it very well," said Hurst.
"We took yet another blow going into it with Louis Dodds in the warm-up, Bryn came in and Ryan McGivern on the bench.
"It feels like so many things were thrown at us. Some were normal others perhaps not so, decisions against us. They put in a fantastic effort.
"First-half we were by far the better team, they had a spell before half-time, second-half they started better but I don't think Jayson's been forced into too many saves.
"I'm just delighted for everyone connected with the football club."
Hurst and his squad completed the traditional end of season lap of honour after supporters had made their way off the pitch.
The brink of survival represents a remarkable achievement for Salop, who were rock-bottom when the ex-Grimsby boss took over in late October.
A run of four defeats in March and April also sent Town back inside League One's bottom four.
The boss added: "There almost the type of scenes when you're getting promoted, aren't they?
"The fans want to get on the pitch and I understand that, it's a waste of time for stewards and announcers!
"They're happy, I'll put my cautious head on and say we need to do a job next week (at Oxford) but things would have to go dramatically wrong for us not to have kept in the league."
But Hurst remained grounded adding that the job wasn't quite complete, with the maths still not firmly on Shrews' side.
"We're almost there. Some people say 'you're there', but we're not, not yet, albeit it would take a big swing - a great effort and a good day."
