Shropshire Star

'Humbled' Shrewsbury have refocused after taking eye off the ball, says Omar Beckles

Omar Beckles reckons ‘humbled’ Shrewsbury have refocused after taking their eye off the ball.

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And the big defender admitted Town are now back in focus after rediscovering the ethos that put them firmly in the fight for the League One promotion places.

Paul Hurst’s men, tipped by so many for the drop, finally gave up ground in their heroic three-horse race with Wigan and Blackburn. Sadly their could only be two winners.

But after a blip in form of one win in six – which was put right in Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Peterborough – Town have got their mojo back for a shot at the final prize come May 27.

First, Shrews must get the domestic campaign over and done with. Two more games of an improbable and often rewarding season, including tomorrow’s party by the seaside in Blackpool and next weekend’s visit of League Two bound MK Dons.

Beckles landed a prestigious spot in the League One team of the year awards recently. The former Accrington man has made 42 outings for Town this term, most of which in his unnatural left-back berth.

When asked what has made this Town season so successful, he answered: “The effort, the ethos.

“The boys that came in, prior to me coming in, signed up to a certain commitment from the staff that this is what we’re going to do – this is our ethos and we’ve stood by it.”

He continued, thoughtfully: “That is a sign of where the recent run has maybe dipped.

“Maybe we took our eye off it a bit, as players rather than management. I guess the position can get to your heads and complacency can kick in, and we think we’re better than we are.

“But we’ve had that fresh reminder with who we are. We’ve been humbled in a sense and we know our true ethos and it’s the effort we put in.”

Hurst – and the droves of Town fans following Town to the north west, more than 2,500 in total – will be hoping to see a performance more akin to the second half of Tuesday’s win against Peterborough than the first.

But Gary Bowyer’s men are no easy proposition. They are keen to maintain the excellent form that has helped them up to 11th in League One. Tomorrow’s hosts have won four games on the bounce, scoring 13 times in the process.

The Seasiders, like Shrewsbury, were tipped for relegation. They have not hit anywhere near the heights of Town but, now sitting pretty, they are only eight points from the play-offs and 11 clear of the bottom four.

The sides know each other well. Town came out on top 1-0 in the reverse league fixture and won via spot-kicks in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Such a season near the top of League One meant that Salop, who gladly adopted the underdog tag at the beginning of the campaign, now carry a heavier weight of expectation and have learned that opposition are wary.

“I think we left that underdog mode a long time ago,” Beckles added. “We were underdogs until up to December and January and then it got to a point where teams were raring to go against us.

“They knew what we were about. Their strategy changed, they no longer went about playing us the way they would’ve played us. The second time around they changed, maybe they sat off us or adopted a different style to break us down.”

“At first we were under-estimated but we’re not in that bracket anymore.”