Paul Hurst keen for pressure to be eased on Shrewsbury Town
Paul Hurst wants his Shrewsbury players to play without the weight of expectancy on their shoulders.
After their spectacular opening to the campaign, which included a run of 15 matches unbeaten, Town won once in six league games before last weekend's victory over Blackpool.
Boss Hurst has been keen to play down expectations from onlookers after Shrewsbury defied bookies and experts that had tipped them for relegation.
Following a tougher run of form, Hurst is keen for pressure and expectancy to not weigh down on his players.
"You get frustrated when things don't go as well as you hope because you want to win every single game," said Hurst.
"But overall we've done fantastically well and the players deserve every credit for what they've done.
"But I don't want it weighing heavy on them if we have a little spell where it's not going quite as well.
"Because it would be, from where we are and what we are, almost impossible to keep that going."
A first defeat of the season against Peterborough was followed up with a memorable three points at Rotherham before back-to-back losses against Bury and Bradford and a draw against MK Dons.
But Jon Nolan's strike against the Seasiders last weekend was enough to secure a return to winning ways in a tight clash.
Hurst felt against MK Dons and Blackpool that his side were playing with pressure but insists that, due to their efforts so far this season, they should relax and play with freedom.
The boss felt last Saturday's win acts a sign that Town are not yet ready to fall from grace.
"I'm not being critical of people," he added. "In your job you're reporting and we've not done as well of late, that's natural.
"But to have lost three league games is an absolutely outstanding effort. The fact they've come quite close together, people get carried away.
"It's nice because, for anyone that has said 'oh they've gone' – we haven't gone away just yet.
"I said to the players that I'm looking for a victory on Saturday (against Portsmouth) because I don't want to be sulking eating my Christmas dinner, so fingers crossed but we know it'll be a tough game against a team with fantastic support."
