Salop Social: Belief grows after back-to-back wins

Chris Hudson

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That’s usually my mantra as a football fan, and it’s served me well over the years in supporting a team that spends more time struggling than it does celebrating.

We’ve certainly had a huge serving of the best over the last few days.

Having previously won just once in 15 League outings, we’ve suddenly recorded back-to-back victories – away from home – against the top two sides in the division. Incredible!

The biggest thing about the 1-0 wins against Hull and Lincoln is the belief it will surely give the team. If they can win at those places, they can win anywhere in this division.

We’ve still got the home win monkey to get off our back. Hopefully we can do that against Sunderland on Saturday.

I don’t want to get carried away. There will surely be a few bumps over the next few weeks, as Steve Cotterill continues this repair job, but my glass is certainly half full today.

Now how many points do we need to make the play-offs…?

Nathan Rowden

What a difference a few weeks make. Since Steve Cotterill arrived at Salop results and performances have been steadily improving, but this week felt like an important turning point in the season.

Playing both first and second in the league away from home when you’re a side sat in the relegation places is a daunting prospect – but not for Cotterill’s side.

There is a renewed belief and confidence in this side which has not only taken six points from those games against Hull and Lincoln, but crucially kept two clean sheets.

This season Town have been guilty of giving away sloppy goals and letting leads slide into defeats and draws.

However, the new manager is ironing out some of these creases and individual errors and has settled on a side and formation which seems to be doing the trick.

For the first time in a while there’s a real reason for optimism.

Steven Jones

Shrewsbury fans are trying hard to keep their feet on the ground, but this feels like more than just the new manager bounce.

The last two results speak for themselves and are all the more impressive when considered alongside two good draws preceding them and the performance levels.

Despite the scorelines, these weren’t smash and grabs, but two very good away performances with every man playing their part.

Credit must also go to Shaun Whalley, who has three goals in his last five matches. The fact he’s played a key role under five different Shrewsbury managers is a testament to his quality and how important he is to the team.

Steve Cotterill has repeatedly warned there will be ups and downs – and given his experience you wouldn’t bet against it – but it’s clear the team has already made progress, despite limited time on the training ground.