"I had a good feeling about today" - Michael Appleton shares delight after first home win in charge of Shrewsbury Town

Salop recorded their first win at Croud Meadow in more than eight months thanks to goals from George Lloyd and Will Boyle, giving Appleton his first taste of victory on home soil since he took charge in March.

And in a game that most in Shropshire will have deemed 'must win' before kick off, the Shrewsbury boss revealed he had felt positive about his side's chances all day.

"I had a good feeling about today," Appleton began. "We spoke with a couple of people before the game and said there's a good feeling about the place, and I think the performance last week set us up a little bit.

"The conditions [at Barrow] were difficult but I thought we were really good, and when you have that sort of performance and don't get the result you want you have to be able to back it up.

"We did that today, and it just goes to show that if you get the first goal you give yourself a massive chance of winning the game.

"I said to the players that we need to see how teams react under pressure, because if you get that first goal all of a sudden you're playing against a different team.

"I thought we were really comfortable today, and I think it should have been more [than 2-0]. I never felt like we were going to concede at any moment."

The Shrewsbury boss added that he felt his side used the frustration of not securing all three points at Barrow last weekend in a positive way in the build up to the clash with Cambridge.

"The build up [to the game] went really well, and training had been really good," he explained. "Monday and Tuesday were a little bit flat and quiet, and I actually felt it was a good thing to use that frustration from last week because we felt we should have won the game.

"I actually allowed the players to be a bit down and disappointed because it brought a bit of anger to them, and then on Thursday we ramped it up and really focused on today.

"Thursday and Friday went really well, and I'd spoken to a few of the staff about there being a good feeling that today was going to be today that we got the monkey off our back, and without wanting to sound boring now I just really want to back it up next week."

Shrewsbury host Crawley Town on Saturday, October 18 knowing a win would see them leapfrog The Red Devils.

Victory over Cambridge moved Salop out of the League Two relegation zone after Steve Cotterill's Cheltenham Town conceded a 95th minute equaliser at Gillingham.