Shrewsbury Town strength pleases Sam Ricketts
Sam Ricketts believes he is beginning to see more robustness to his Shrewsbury Town side.
Town earned a point at Lincoln on Friday evening by securing their sixth clean sheet in 12 league games, but could not find a way through the 10-man Imps.
Ricketts’ men are preparing for two Montgomery Waters Meadow fixtures this week, beginning at home to Gillingham tomorrow, before Sunderland’s visit on Saturday.
The Town boss was extremely pleased with what he saw physically from his charges at Sincil Bank, acknowledging that hard work in the fitness department is beginning to pay off as the visitors came on strong late on.
“I see development there,” said Ricketts of his side’s conditioning. “I could see that the longer the game went on at Lincoln we looked good. It’s in the last 10 or 15 minutes of games you see people’s fitness levels and I thought we were the ones pushing and driving to get the win.
“It’s a big thing we’ve been working on. We were hampered in pre-season and early in the season through the amount of injuries and how hard we could push players physically.
“But we’ve been able to crank that up now for three or four weeks and I’m certainly starting to see the benefits of a real physically strong side.”
Town’s squad is in better shape that earlier in the season. Defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell is nearing a return, while Romain Vincelot is still absent. Loanee Callum Lang is out until the new year, while long-term ACL victims Lenell John-Lewis and Ryan Sears are stepping up their rehab.
After a fourth stalemate of the season, Town have scored the second-fewest in League One (10) after bottom club Bolton, but conceded the joint third-fewest (13).
But Ricketts was pleased with his side’s outlay. He added: “We’ve been resting and recovering over the weekend to be ready to put the same physical performance in.
“I thought physically the players were excellent. They looked strong, a lot stronger as the game went on, which is real testament when you’re playing against Lincoln because they’ve based themselves hugely on fitness.
“We’re really looking forward to tomorrow night at home under the lights.”
