John Askey: Opening day Shrewsbury defeat may not prove a bad thing
Boss John Askey hopes Shrewsbury’s opening-day defeat may prove a blessing in disguise and vows to work harder in search of a response.
Town were undone in an entertaining Montgomery Waters Meadow clash with Bradford, as the visitors scored inside 20 minutes and held on despite both sides threatening on a number of occasions.
Askey was determined to mark the League One opener with a success to continue Salop’s feelgood factor from last season.
But Jack Payne’s early strike condemned Town to a loss on the day Shrewsbury brought safe standing to English football in what proved a colourful and atmosphere Salop Leisure South Stand.
“It’s very much early days,” Askey said. “If you get the three points it sets you off nicely and you can relax a little bit and it gives players confidence.
“The fact that we haven’t means we’re going to have to work a little bit harder, myself included.
“Sometimes it does you good and hopefully it will. We’ll move on from here.”
On Payne’s goal, which came after James Bolton’s sluggish defending, the boss added: “If you do make mistake you need people who will recognise danger and pick players up.
“But the ball should have been aimed at Row Z really. It was something we did against Port Vale as well so we should’ve learned from it.
“If players don’t then you’ve got to look at it and get players that will do the job.
“I think there’s a lot more to come. The way that I like to play, I’ve got to get a balance between that and winning – and players’ understanding of that as well.
“There’s a long way to go and it’s not an ideal start but I’ll try my best to rectify everything.”
Askey is demanding to see the correct attitude in his squad as they return to work today.
He continued: “You want to get this out of your system. It doesn’t matter if you win or you lose – it’s gone.
“That’s what players have to realise. If you lose then you’ve got to be that more determined than you were before.
“If you win it gives you confidence. But we weren’t far away from getting a result, it’s fine margins at times.”
Chief executive Brian Caldwell revealed Town had agreed a deal with Ipswich for duo Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala, who were not involved on Saturday, but were finalising sell-on clauses.
The deal is expected to go through imminently and Askey is targetting one or two additions before Thursday’s deadline.
