There is no time to mope around, John Askey orders to his Shrewsbury players
John Askey insists he shouldn’t have to raise his Shrewsbury players after Saturday’s disappointment as they go into a clash with another of League One’s big boys tonight.
Town welcome another of last season’s relegated Championship outfits, Barnsley, hot on the heels of their 2-0 home defeat to Sunderland.
Askey rates Daniel Stendel’s visitors as the best footballing side in League One. They have lost lost twice in 14 games – including Saturday’s reverse at Charlton.
Town, meanwhile, have won just twice but the boss stressed there is no time for struggling Salop to mope around after back-to-back defeats.
“It’s another good game. If they’re not up for games against Barnsley then they shouldn’t be playing football,” said the Town chief.
“They’d have been disappointed after the (Sunderland) game but when they got to the training ground yesterday they have to go again.
“They have to look forward to the game tonight and express themselves. If they can put the energy in again then they’ll be fine.”
Askey faces a selection dilemma as he is without star creator Shaun Whalley for tonight’s visit of the Tykes.
Whalley (calf) limped off against Sunderland and has pulled his calf, sidelining him for a couple of weeks.
The boss hinted that like-for-like replacements Abo Eisa – who has recently returned from a six-week knee lay-off – and academy graduate Ryan Barnett – who is yet to make his league debut – could be considered.
“We can look at different formations or someone different to Shaun. Eisa is back in training although he’s only had a couple of sessions,” he said.
“We’ve got Barney and Gilly (Alex Gilliead), who is a natural right winger, we have got people who can fill in those positions.” On a change to 3-5-2, he added: “It’s something we’ve thought about, we have got the players to do that.”
