Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst: Let’s show we can last the pace
Paul Hurst has challenged his Shrewsbury players to prove they can stay the pace at League One’s summit after being knocked off top spot on goal difference.
Town extended their club record Football League unbeaten start to 13 games with a point at basement boys Plymouth but were leapfrogged by Wigan, with both clubs on 31 points.
Shaun Whalley’s fine curling effort 12 minutes from time earned Hurst’s side a share of the spoils in Devon.
But after defying the odds all season, Hurst wants his side to show that they are not ready to slide down the table.
He said: “We’ve been knocked off top spot on goal difference and I’m sure there’ll be quite a few people expecting us to slide down that table, for me that’s part of the motivation we use to stay there as long as possible.
“They have to believe. It’s not all positive, I’ve had a little dig at them.
“We’ve got a few home games coming up and a few questions have been posed to them.
“It’s how they respond. No-one expected us to be at the top of the table, having been there for a little while now, they have to deal with it.
“It’s a different expectation going into games – can they handle it?
“That’s something for them individually and collectively that you have to cope with.”
Hurst’s side have been behind for just 49 minutes of league football this season.
The Home Park clash followed a trend of fixtures against Rochdale, Oxford, Doncaster and Walsall where Town have showed an instant response.
He added: “When they went behind I saw a good reaction, a couple of the more vocal players saying ‘we keep going’.
“We made subs to be positive and deserved something from the game.”
The Town boss believes that Saturday’s round of results, where rock-bottom Plymouth pushed his side, Bury beat Bradford and Oldham defeated highly-fancied Blackburn, was an indicator of League One’s strength.
“We’ve got to try and take an advantage when we are playing well,” he added.
“There will be times when we don’t, I don’t feel like we have deserved to be beat this season. We might get on a lucky run or something like that.
“The one moment when we did have a bit of luck was at Oldham, when it was 1-1, he went around the keeper and hit the inside of the post.”
