Shrewsbury boss John Askey admits the pressure stays on

The Town boss had been coming under more scrutiny after back-to-back defeats in League One left him with just two wins from 14 games.

Askey, who is included in the next manager odds at former club Macclesfield, insisted the against-the-odds victory against the Tykes did nothing to change the pressure he was under.

Shrewsbury head to Karl Robinson’s Oxford today, a fixture which begins a run of games against clubs below 14th in the League One standings. The boss stressed that the satisfaction from ‘coming through’ adversity is worth the toil.

The boss said: “The pressure doesn’t change. It’s always there because you want to do well.

“You don’t want to let yourself down. A lot of football is out of your control as a manager which is hard to deal with.

“But it’s part and parcel of being a manager. If you are successful it’s very rewarding.

“When it’s tough and you come through it – and we might well do that – then it’s nice to work things out and come through it at the other end which I’ve had to do in the past.”

Askey was satisfied to see Town finally take advantage of a set-piece against Barnsley.

Towering defender Luke Waterfall opened his account for Salop with Shrews’ third goal on the night.

“It was nice to score from a set-piece, we’ve been threatening to do that,” Askey added.

“That was nice as it’s something we’ve been looking at in training.”

Greg Docherty and Ollie Norburn both scored first-half goals, and Askey reckons it was a case of his midfield double act finding their feet at League One level.

The boss added: “The three lads that scored haven’t played at this level and are just finding their feet. It does take time.

“You can see it happening. Greg, Ollie and Luke are improving with every game.”