Paul Hurst delighted with Shrewsbury Town spirit despite draw
Paul Hurst hailed Shrewsbury Town's spirit despite failing to crack Bradford City - but conceded that a top two spot is looking more difficult.
Town passed up a chance at closing the gap to second placed Blackburn to two points after their goalless draw at Valley Parade, where Hurst's men played half an hour with 10 men.
Omar Beckles was dismissed after a second yellow card just as Town were upping the ante in West Yorkshire and despite making positive changes, the visitors were unable to break through the Bantams in an entertaining affair.
But the Town boss was proud of the energy and spirit on show from his side as they returned to league action following last weekend's Wembley disappointment.
"The spirit was there for everyone to see, added to the fans, who had a nice banner over there (in the crowd) and the way they backed the players. You see the players going over there straight away (at the end)," said Town chief Hurst.
"We've still got a lot to look forward to and we can be proud of the team and club tonight.
"It's more difficult, of course. We're talking about teams - yes Blackburn drew the other day - but they haven't really shown any signs of going on a bad run.
"We've just got to try and win our games if we can. We tried to but it didn't pan out that way. The sending off made it more difficult but we'll keep persisting, if we feel there's a chance there we'll go for it.
"We've got to be positive. If it gets to a point where we don't feel that's possible then we'll prepare for the other scenario."
Beckles was dismissed for a second yellow card on the hour mark. Hurst felt the defender's second challenge was 'naive'.
Hurst added: "We're almost getting to 'is every foul a yellow card?'
"When he did get sent off it looked like one. I can understand why he is sent off. Very naive on his part and it makes it more difficult.
"We tried to be positive and win the game.
"We've had the best chances to win the game with Jon Nolan.
"They were the two best moves of the night. We were the ones that played the better football.
"You have to give the players a lot of credit, particularly with 10 men, the effort was there for everyone to see."
