Michael Appleton hails Shrewsbury Town’s growing ‘belief’ after dramatic late victory over Crawley Town

Captain Will Boyle powered home a late header to earn Shrewsbury successive wins on home soil and extend their unbeaten run to three League Two games.

It marked the first time since February 8 that Salop have recorded consecutive victories, moving them three points clear of the relegation zone - and also saw them register a third straight clean sheet.

Speaking after the 1-0 triumph, Appleton couldn’t hide his pride and praised his players for their organisation and resilience at both ends of the pitch.

“I think there is obviously a little bit of belief,” he said - asked what has changed to enable Shrewsbury to claim three clean sheets in a row. 

“If you’ve scored the first goal in any game of football, you give yourself a great chance of winning.

“We’ve left it late today, but we’ve scored the first goal in the game again, and when you’ve got that, you’ve got something to hold on to.

“But I felt comfortable up until those final dying moments in the game - I never really felt we were going to concede.

“I think it’s a bit of belief, a bit of confidence. We’ve changed the shape over the last few weeks as well, and that’s helped us. We’ve got more bodies in the middle of the park, which has definitely helped the group and allowed us to defend from the front a little bit better.”

Taylor Perry marked his 100th appearance for the club with an impressive display in midfield, while new signing Josh Ruffels came off the bench in the 75th minute to make his Shrewsbury debut.

Crawley’s Harry McKirdy was given his marching orders just after the hour mark, and buoyed by the backing of the home crowd, the hosts made their extra-man advantage count to seal victory.

Skipper Boyle once again made a decisive impact, heading home a Sam Clucas corner with just five minutes remaining to secure the win - his second goal in as many games.

“I think it was before the last game that I was a little bit annoyed and did reference the fact that I think we should be doing better from set plays,” Appleton admitted.

“I touched on it after the Cambridge game as well, and to score from one last week, I was obviously delighted because it’s something we mentioned - and today, to get the winner from it, was great.

“The clean sheet makes it all the more special.”

The victory came after Appleton confirmed that striker Bradley Ihionvien faces a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury sustained in training.

The 21-year-old, who joined Shrewsbury from Peterborough United on a season-long loan on deadline day, suffered a meniscus injury towards the end of Thursday’s training session.

However, Appleton said the young striker remains in good spirits and still joined in the post-match celebrations despite the setback.

“Bradley is in the changing room celebrating with his teammates. He’s not allowing himself to get too down.

“He’s a young lad, and he will recover from whatever the actual diagnosis is. When the time comes — whether it’s a shorter one or a long one — he’ll recover from that and get better from it.

“He certainly played his part in the celebrations after the game.”