Comment: Shrewsbury Town spirit stands them in good stead

That factor can only bode well and stands John Askey in good stead moving forward as this season and his Montgomery Waters Meadow tenure begins to take shape.

Whether it’s at Sundorne Castle or at the Meadow, there aren’t many grumbles in and around the corridors or dressing room.

That is an extremely odd factor given Town have not won in 90 minutes since the play-off second-leg against Charlton in May.

Normally, on such a run, heads will have drooped, body language would be defeatist with any attempts at positivity scarcely believable.

It is not the case when you speak with the current crop of Town players.

You would not know this is a group that have not won a game of football together. Likewise, at Portsmouth last week, you could not tell which team were unbeaten.

Every member of this Town squad I have interviewed has had a sense of frustration that things have not gone their way.

But it is not a sense of frustration from a broken dressing room, with players squabbling and not buying into their manager’s views.

It is an annoyance that they are not able to show what their performances merit, that they have matched League One opposition in seven games but have four points and no wins to show for it.

The squad Askey has assembled possesses talent that should see them up and away from trouble in the division.

There are players that must be cursing the bad luck in giving penalties away. On the flip side, they will be cursing colleagues putting themselves in a position to give the referee a decision to make.

For the first time this season, we heard Greg Docherty, who got the leveller at Pompey last week, suggest there were heated words in the dressing room at Fratton Park.

These weren’t exchanged because Shrewsbury were poor. They were exchanged because the players are better than results suggest but falling short.

But every time Askey is questioned about the spirit in his ranks he sings his squad’s praises, adding that he has a good bunch with the correct ethos.

Admittedly, he is unlikely to suggest the opposite, but he has only once – the second-half capitulation at Luton – called them out for not being at it. Askey has been honest when facing the media.

New addition Josh Emmanuel, who made his Town bow last week after joining on-loan from Paul Hurst’s Ipswich, noted that it was not apparent from the dressing room that Salop were low on confidence. His positive character added to a confident group.

Walking in at the Meadow midweek, after the squad photo was taken, the players looked together, happy and settled.

Town fans can be safe in the knowledge that big characters in that dressing room, Mat Sadler, Anthony Grant, Omar Beckles and others, will keep the atmosphere where it should be.

On the pitch, the squad are gelling. The boss believes that over the last two games signs of his passing, keep-the-ball style has shone through.

Passing stats and possession and shots off target don’t win points and matches though, putting the ball in the opposition’s net and keeping it out at the other end do.

The jury is still out. Indeed, Questions have been asked as to why they have not been able to turn dominance into wins.

The answers aren’t too difficult. A lack of goals and cutting edge, finishing off chances they create.

Likewise, the sooner Town stop shipping penalties and handing opponents a lifeline the better.