John Askey: Shrewsbury Town showed 'really good character' in draw

But the winless Town boss, whose side lie second-bottom of League One, conceded that there is something missing from his team's displays as they again dominated with the ball but were unable to take advantage.

Last season's top scorer Stefan Payne, sold on deadline day, netted from the spot on his Salop return early in the second half, before the visitors had Joe Martin sent off and put one in their own net through Daniel Leadbitter.

The boss said: "It (the penalty) kills you. Especially in the position that you're in. For us to keep going, get our heads up and push on shows really good character.

"Not only did the players show good character, i thought the supporters did as well. It would've been quite easy to get on our backs.

"They never did. They carried on singing throughout and really supported the players. It must be a joy to play in front of them.

"For them to keep doing that when you go 1-0 down shows what loyal supporters they are."

But Askey was again left ruing his team's lack of a ruthless streak in attack, though Town struggled to create many clear-cut openings against a limited Rovers side.

The 1-1 draw makes it eight games in all competitions without a win for Askey - six in League One.

The boss added: "I don't want to sound like a record, saying the same thing. We shouldn't get ourselves in the position to give a 'peno' away.

"It probably wasn't a penalty but we should have never got ourselves in that position.

"We limited them to very few chances. We've played well, some attractive football, and we need to react better in their box as well.

"We're playing well and we look decent but we still have more work to do to change results."

When asked if his side struggled with a lack of cutting edge, Askey responded: "It is the cutting edge, whether it's the final ball, someone making something happen or reacting quicker than a defender. We've got to do that in the box.

"The majority of our play is very good. You can't knock the players for their work rate. They're working really hard, playing good football, but there;s obviously something we're not doing right.

"You can't keep saying 'it's the referee' or whatever. We've got to make it happen ourselves."