Micky Mellon locks in Shrewsbury players

It came after their biggest home defeat this season dumped them in the drop zone for the first time since August.

A 3-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Barnsley means Town have conceded 10 goals in their last two League One games, in stark contrast to the 1-0 FA Cup win at Cardiff in between.

Awful defending allowed ex-Town loan striker Sam Winnall to score twice in six minutes on 15 and 21 and Alfie Mawson (72) sealed a thoroughly deserved win for the Tykes.

Andy Mangan saw a penalty saved two minutes before the break and Nat Knight-Percival had a header saved soon after.

But Mellon was heavily critical of his players' performance throughout the team.

Mellon, who kept the players in for around 30 minutes afterwards, said: "We had a frank, open and passionate discussion with the players and that's what I want.

"Today too many of the players gave the ball away far too cheaply and it's incredibly frustrating.

"Pretty much everything we did at Cardiff - the shape, the organisation and the pressing - we didn't do, from the front right through to the back.

"The goals we gave away were appalling. We never kept the ball well enough, we never worked the overloads anywhere near well enough.

"We never passed the ball and the movement ahead of the ball wasn't good enough or aggressive enough.

"When we went into attacking areas, we wanted too many touches and too often we gave the ball away far too cheaply for players we've seen play many times."

Salop slipped to fourth bottom on goal difference and have played two more games than the team above them, Fleetwood.

But it was the ease in which Winnall was twice allowed to march through a back-pedalling defence which alarmed Mellon.

He said: "It was disappointing because the first goal came from a ball straight through the middle, and we went for the header and didn't win it.

"The frustrating thing is when one of the centre halves goes for the ball, the other two must cover in round behind him in case he misses it.

"But we got caught on our heels and the lad (Winnall) ran in from a straight punt down the middle.

"For the second goal, he (Winnall) picked it up just inside our half and he's quite pacy, but we had four or five players around him and we allowed him to keep running and eventually he stuck it in the bottom corner.

"Then the third goal was from a set play right on top of the goalkeeper and a free header. It's difficult to legislate for basic errors like that which cost us."

Mellon conceded the saved penalty could have been a turning point, then also when Nat Knight-Percival's header was saved soon afterwards.

He said: "We missed a penalty as well which may have given us a lift, then their keeper (Adam Davies) made a save when we were trying to make it 2-1," he said.

"We just never got going with any of the things that gave us joy at Cardiff."