Shrewsbury Town chief Brad Friedel hails star after Oldham victory

Kevin Berkoe earned glowing praise from Shrewsbury Town’s new sporting director Brad Friedel after his match-winning display against Oldham Athletic.

Berkoe headed home the opener in the 73rd minute before setting up Josh Davison moments later as Town began life under their new American owners with victory.

And former Premier League star Friedel was full of admiration for the 25-year-old’s performance.

He said: “When you see a game like this, if there is one impression you should take away from it, I think you should look at Kevin Berkoe splitting two defenders, having a great cross and then an absolutely exhausted Josh Davison getting on the end of it.

“He (Berkoe) played brilliantly. It is really nice to see, in any division or league, when your wide players, whether you are playing with wingers or wing-backs or even attacking fullbacks, when they are confident and they want to take the ball and want to go forward, it causes so many problems for the defenders.

“You always get overloaded as a defender if someone is willing to run at you with the ball like he did. It was really good to see.

“He is going to be full of confidence from this game and do it again in the next game.”

Town conceded in stoppage time to set up a nervy finish but held on for three points that moved them within one of the League Two play-off places.

Friedel admitted there had been pressure on the players following a momentous week in the club’s history.

“I think we should take it one step at a time and be very pleased with a whirlwind week,” Friedel added.

“There was some pressure on the players, some pressure on the staff, that eases a little bit. It is a great three points.

“Gavin will probably be disappointed that we conceded, because I think we were probably deserving of 3-0 or better worthy winners on the day.

“There are always areas that we can improve on, but it is not easy to win football matches. When you can get the three points, you can take that confidence into the next one.”