Shrewsbury Town analysis: Salop show some mettle to leave TV bosses disappointed
Michael Appleton said as much after the gut-wrenching pegging back from Gillingham a week ago.
He did so again in the lead up to this Saturday evening's venture to the capital for the continuation of their FA Cup journey this season - there's an obvious reason why various broadcasting companies eyed up Shrewsbury Town's tie at non-league Sutton United, as they did in the previous round at South Shields, as a game which was worth showing.
Simply put, they probably fancied that a cup upset would make for good television and, with the lowly league position placing them under scrutiny, Salop appeared vulnerable to such a fate - a common occurrence for many heavyweights down the years in the world's oldest club competition.
Sutton had already seen off AFC Telford United in the first round and were clearly in the mood for toppling Shropshire sides. Here was a levelling stage; under the lights, in wet and windy conditions and, of course, in front of many cameras providing coverage to all sorts of numbers around the country.
To best guard against the threat of a televised upset, Appleton stuck with the XI who got the nod and, for large periods, deservedly led the Gills a week ago but, quite frankly, the first half showing did desperately little to allay any anxieties supporters might've had that this tie had the hallmarks of a giant killing.
Make no mistake, this was a perhaps inopportune time to cross Sutton who, despite the inferior league position in the English footballing pyramid, came into this in flying form under relatively new boss Chris Agutter. They'd won six and lost just one of their previous 11 matches and were clearly in no mood to be intimidated by anybody.
