Shrewsbury 'stronger together' insists boss Steve Cotterill

Town are braced to push for a respectable League One finish as they look to close the gap to the middle of the pack in the final seven games.

Shrewsbury have found their form with convincing back-to-back wins, including at leaders Rotherham on Saturday and boss Cotterill said that win owed everything to a team effort, the spirit and unity in Town’s camp and a drilled style of play.

“It had to be a good team performance, if you don’t have a good team performance at Rotherham then you get beat,” said Cotterill.

“Some players did some outstanding things in the game, but they haven’t done it by themselves, they did it because of their team-mate next to them and their team-mate backing them up.

“It is all about the team, it’s not about any individual. Our strength is our team – a team spirit and a way of playing.”

Wing-back Elliott Bennett, who scored his first league goal for Town at the New York Stadium, was named man of the match in some quarters.

Nottingham Forest loan midfielder Tyrese Fornah enjoyed what many perceived to be his best game in Shrewsbury colours and striker Ryan Bowman, who has scored in his last three games, made the League One team of the week.

Town have 45 points with 21 still to play for, another 11 points would be a second-best total – after 2017/18’s play-off tilt – in the club’s recent League One history. Lincoln City, two places and three points further back, are Saturday’s visitors.

Cotterill, who was named League One boss of the week, said: “We’ve got tough games ahead, we’ll give the opposition the full respect, like we always do, whether they’re top of the table or bottom.

“We’ll just try to prepare as best we can and finish the season off strongly if we can.”