Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts thrives in the tactical battle

The Town chief says he wants to follow in the footsteps of former Swansea team-mate Roberto Martinez in winning on the tactics board after Shrews’ game plan earned them a richly-deserved point at big-hitters Sunderland.

Ricketts swapped Shrewsbury’s system into a variation of 4-5-1 and 4-3-3, dropping top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie and using the recalled Lenell John-Lewis and Alex Gilliead in wide positions, behind Josh Laurent, playing in an unfamiliar forward role.

Town, who led through Luke Waterfall in the 1-1 draw in front of a record league attendance for Salop, defended heroically but Ricketts was more pleased with how they carried out his instructions to the letter.

“I’m really pleased for the players,” Ricketts said. “I think they deserved it after the performance they put in.

“From my point of view I loved the tactical side of the game. That’s what I really enjoy about football and management.

“Picking a game plan and seeing it carried out to the level that the players did is probably one of the most pleasing things you can see.

“I used to play with Roberto Martinez and he says he’s never been beaten on the tactics board and that’s the line I’m trying to follow.

“To really try and get as good at that as we possibly can to get the best chance of winning games.”

After an energy-sapping performance Town are now recovering for tomorrow’s visit of Fleetwood.

Nearly 700 travelling Town fans were making every block with their resolute defence late on as the visitors clutched a merited point.

Asked about watching from the sidelines, former defender Ricketts said: “Before the game it’s worse being a manager than a player.

“As a player you feel like you can do something about it. I didn’t say too much to the players before the game, we’d worked really hard in the last couple of days on exactly what we were going to do.

“But it’s really pleasing, as the A-Team say ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.”