John Askey hails Shrewsbury Town's best performance yet

The Town chief felt his side deserved to take all three points in the goalless draw with Blackpool and that, on the balance of chances created, Shrewsbury were not far from a first victory.

Shrews secured a first clean sheet of the season against the Seasiders, who hung on for most of the 90 minutes as Town failed to put the ball in the net.

"It is (the best performance). We look better balanced as well, throughout the team. There's an energy there. We closed down well and defended better," said Askey.

"We created a lot of chances. There's one or two that on another day would go in. It eventually turns if you keep doing the right thing.

“I thought the performance was very good. Again, we created a lot of chances and restricted them to one chance. Regards to the performance, I’m really pleased.

“If anyone came today and watched the game, they would have thought we deserved to win the game.

“If we keep performing like that, it wont be long before we start winning games.

“There is one or two who are getting better with the more games they play. Hopefully, that’s the start and we start to move up the table.”

Skipper Mat Sadler was brought back into the starting line-up and, alongside Luke Waterfall, helped Town to their first shutout of the campaign.

The pair appeared solid throughout and limited managerless Blackpool to few real opportunities.

Also included for his first Town start was midfielder Anthony Grant, who anchored the midfield superbly and was hailed as 'the difference' by Askey.

“I think he made a big difference. Defensively, I thought that is what we have been missing," added Town's boss.

“I was surprised he was able to last the 90 minutes and he did really well. It shows what kind of character you have got there.

“He gave us that little bit of extra bite and organisation that we have been missing.”