Shrewsbury boss John Askey is aiming to bring festive cheer
John Askey wants to ease Shrewsbury Town’s League One relegation fears by Christmas.
The Montgomery Waters Meadow chief has set a target to be looking up the division, rather than over their shoulder, by the busy set of festive fixtures.
Salop are currently 17th, two points clear of the League One drop zone after two wins from their first 13 games.
Askey and his players have aspirations of competing further up the division and the boss does not want any lingering relegation fears by the season’s midway point.
He said: “You have to look at each game as it comes along and try to win each, put everything into that.
“If you start thinking ‘This or that is coming along’ – we all know there are games when you think ‘We should win that’ and you don’t win it.
“And there’s games you’re thinking ‘We’ll do well to win that’ and you go and win it.
“It’s pointless really. I think we’ve got to make sure that, come Christmas, we’re in a position where we’re not really looking and thinking ‘Now we’ve got to really start having a go because we’re in a relegation fight’.
“We’ve got to make sure by Christmas we’re looking at the other end of the table and the fight starts in each game.”
Askey stressed he won’t try to ‘reinvent the wheel’ in training as he looks to find a winning formula for his stuttering Town side.
He continued: “We’re always looking at trying to improve things. But what we don’t have to lose sight of is that we’re not too far away.
“If we start trying to reinvent the wheel then the wheels can come off. It’s getting that balance, sometimes it can be something that sparks it.
“Not necessarily something you do on the training ground, but individuals doing the right thing at the right time and decision making by players out there.”
Town’s next two fixtures make for daunting reading as relegated Championship pair Sunderland and Barnsley head to the Meadow on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively.
That leads Shrews into a period of six games where they face Oxford, AFC Wimbledon, Rochdale, Wycombe, Plymouth and Burton – all of whom are currently 15th and below in the League One standings.
