Ro-Shaun Williams: Shrewsbury Town focus won’t slip
Defender Ro-Shaun Williams has vowed that Shrewsbury will head into Boxing Day’s clash at struggling Wigan with the same attitude that downed three League One big-hitters.
The Town stopper has been in inspired form in helping new boss Steve Cotterill stage a Christmas recovery act with three straight wins to clear Shrewsbury of the bottom four.
Town have seen off Hull City, Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers – three of the top four – 1-0 on their travels and aim to make it a foursome on the road at second-bottom Wigan on Saturday.
Williams, who has played a key role in helping Shrews to their best run of clean sheets since Christmas 2017, insists focus should not slip.
“Every game in this league is hard, it’s just about getting results,” Williams said. “We’ll approach Wigan as we approached the last three games.
“We’ll be wanting to win, wanting to score goals, wanting to keep a clean sheet and wanting to go home on the bus happy with three points, definitely.
“We’ve got to continue the form and our winning mentality, we’ve got to get the three points, there’s nothing more to it, home or away it doesn’t matter.
“We knew we were playing against teams higher in the table but sometimes that can be easier. Playing against teams around you near the bottom it’s like a wrestling match to get the points with more nerves. But to dig in with three 1-0 wins is nice.
“There’s definitely a nicer feeling around the camp, coming out with wins.”
The defender insisted the recent revival was reward for team effort across the board.
He added: “It’s the work everyone’s putting in, it’s not just the defenders or the goalkeeper, it’s the wing-backs, the midfielders, strikers, they all did the work.
“It’s a team game and about working hard as a team and individuals and we’ll get results if we continue doing that.”
“We’re just thinking of picking up points week in, week out, continuing to work and climb the table.”
Town have completed the unlikely feat of climbing clear of the bottom four at Christmas having been five points adrift before the trip to then-leaders Hull just over two weeks ago.
Boss Cotterill has said that climbing to 16th is ‘nothing to celebrate’, but was happy to deliver inspired Town fans some Christmas cheer.
Victory at Wigan will be a fourth on the bounce in the league for the first time since September 2017, the play-off campaign under Paul Hurst. Town will be in training on Christmas Day for the first time since 2014 under Micky Mellon, preparing for the trip up the M6.
“The base of any team is keeping clean sheets and not conceding goals, last year we were good at it and didn’t score as many as we should’ve,” Williams said. “It’s good to keep three clean sheets in a row and something we need to build on as a team.
“Where we are in the table is not where we want to be, even 16th, if we keep working hard we can definitely push up the table and you never know.”
The former Manchester United youngster is nearing two years as a Shrewsbury player and has been a regular throughout, making 72 appearances for the club.
He feels he has progressed in his time in blue and amber and carries a steely determination to continue improving.
“I definitely think I’ve improved over the 18 months of two years I’ve been at Shrewsbury,” Williams added. “For me personally it’s just about continuing to improve, working hard, listening to the other experienced players, the manager – it’s about getting to the level I want to be at, working hard, keeping my head down and staying fit and happy.”
