Aaron Wilbraham: Shrewsbury second-half display earned back respect
Aaron Wilbraham admitted Shrewsbury earned back the respect from Steve Cotterill with an improved second-half display but acknowledged Town must get back to what they are good at.
Town paid for conceding two soft first-half goals at home to resurgent relegation-battlers Wigan, where the hosts lost 2-1 for their third reverse on the spin.
Ollie Norburn struck a fine volley to reduce the arrears in the second period and Curtis Main and academy youngster Charlie Caton went so close to earning a point but Wigan held on for a huge win, while the gap between 18th-placed Town and the drop zone was cut to seven points with five games to play.
Assistant Wilbraham revealed Cotterill had stern words over the phone at half-time and decided immediately to make a triple change and switched the formation, which improved the hosts.
"The manager wasn't happy at half-time, he spoke to the lads and said we need to stop wasting first halves," Wilbraham said.
"And I think in the second half they earned back the gaffer's respect to be honest.
"In the second half everyone was on it, backing each other up, and that's when we are at our best.
"We just need to find a way of starting games like that and I think that comes from the mentality of the players.
"It's hard at this stage of the season, it's been a long, stressful season with the Covid and the gaffer, the players have been unbelievable, no-one's hanging them out (to dry) here or disrespecting them they've been brilliant.
"But they know and we all know ourselves we need to find a way to start better and carry it on for the full 90 minutes."
He added: "We had a good chat with the manager in the dressing room, we need to look at these five games and definitely start to put things right and get back to what we're good at."
