Killian Phillips earns Shrewsbury salute
Steve Cotterill revealed his Shrewsbury players gave Killian Phillips a round of applause at full-time for his performance in their cruel defeat to Sunderland at the weekend.
The FA Cup third-round tie was the midfielder’s debut for the club after he completed a loan move to Salop for the rest of the season earlier this month.
The 20-year-old became the second loan player in the Town squad from Crystal Palace, along with Rob Street who joined in the summer.
The energetic midfielder had a good debut, displaying his ability to get around the pitch and snap into tackles.
And the impressive nature of his performance was recognised by his team-mates at full-time.
Cotterill said: “I thought it was an incredible debut by Killian Phillips, he was immense in there.
“I just said at the end of when I finished speaking to the boys, what an incredible debut by a young man.
“And the lads gave him a round of applause, and rightly so.”
Town fought valiantly in their FA Cup tie against Championship side Sunderland at the Meadow which eventually saw them exit the competition.
Salop defended well for large periods and when Matthew Pennington’s fifth goal of the season gave them the lead with 10 minutes to play it looked as if they had done enough to be in the hat for the fourth round.
But Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray had sent on their big guns – the likes of Jack Clarke and Ross Stewart.
And it was Stewart who got his head to the corner which looked as if it had taken to tie to a replay.
But the drama did not stop there, as defender Luke O’Nien found himself in the right place to fire the Black Cats through to the next round when his shot from outside the box, nestled into the corner of Marko Marosi’s net.
And the boss says Phillips was ‘gutted’ by the result at full-time saying that is the attitude he wants players to have.
He said: “As you can see he is another that for the next few months here he is going to be all in for us.
“He is a terrific lad as well, I am so so pleased for him. You can tell he has only been here, what 10 days?
“He is absolutely gutted in there (the dressing room) that we have been beaten. So that means he has bought into it already.
“So we are really disappointed with the result, but I cannot be prouder of the players.”
It has been a tough period for Town, and the game against Sunderland on paper always looked like a challenge.
But they will need to re-focus now, as they are back in league action this Saturday when they make the trip to Burton Albion.
