Sam Ricketts encouraged by Shrewsbury progress

Town dominated in the early stages at Home Park and deservedly led through Josh Vela's first goal for the club but Conor Grant struck an equaliser on half hour for the hosts.

Neither side were able to force a winner in a second half in which Town lost goalkeeper Matija Sarkic to enjoy but it was Ryan Lowe's hosts who enjoyed the clearer openings.

Town are yet to chalk up their first league victory of the campaign but the boss is content with the strides his side have made with the new-look formation and attacking style adopted this season.

"I want to win every game," Ricketts said. "It's not something that's giving me a hole in my head about wanting to win that first game.

"It's not that. My biggest concern is the performances, the style of play. The wins will come.

"If we keep playing like we did in the first 20 minutes, like we did in midweek against Newcastle and for large parts against Northampton then wins will come.

"We've come to a possession-based team and are 50-50 in terms of possession and I'm coming away disappointed. I wanted us to dominate the ball more than we did.

"It just shows we've come a long way."

The visitors were dominant early on and caused the newly-promoted Pilgrims, who play an expansive possession-based style, all manner of problems.

Vela's first goal for the club, a fiercely struck drive from 25 yards that flicked off a home defender on its way in, was just rewards but Shrewsbury struggled to repature that sharpness later in the contest, played in front of an empty Home Park.

"I thought for the first 20 minutes we were in total control of the game," the Shrews boss added.

"I thought we were outstanding. We pinned them in, moved the ball really well, they couldn't get out, we had crosses and shots coming in.

"But we just got caught and a little bit of play gets them back in the game.

"We struggled for rhythm in the second half and ultimately saw the game out. We're disappointed with the injury (to Sarkic).

"Ultimately it's a good point. We wanted three but this is a hard place to come, as Blackpool found out, so coming away with something is no mean feat.

"We saw the level our game was early on and the level we can get to."

Ricketts was able to hand a second-half debut to Leon Clarke after bringing in the 35-year-old forward from Premier League side Sheffield United on the eve of the fixture.

Clarke is one of several new faces bedding into Town's system while Sarkic joins a mounting injury list with a hamstring problem, although his replacement Harry Burgoyne caught the eye with a couple of important saves.

Ricketts added: "We're still young in terms of what we're trying to do. There's players who have only played a couple of games in their careers or for the club or making their debuts.

"We're still in the very early stages. We were outstanding for the first 20 minutes and we want to reach that level as much as we can. If we can then we'll be some force."