Shrewsbury Town ace opens up on mental battle through two 'tough' years

Josh Davison says he is rediscovering the joy of football at Shrewsbury Town.

The striker celebrated his return to the starting XI with two goals, including a stoppage time winner, in Tuesday’s 3-2 victory at Crawley Town.

Davison now has four for the season - equalling his total in each of the past two campaigns.

The 27-year-old, who joined Town following his release by Tranmere Rovers last summer, is determined to push on after opening up on the mental strain of feeling his career had hit the buffers.

“I have had a couple of years of not playing and it made me realise how much that can affect me personally, mentally,” he said.

“I will always do as much as I can to get started. That is when I am at my happiest, playing football. That is all I want to do and always have done.

“That is my motivation, just to play.”

Davison scored only five league goals across two seasons for Tranmere, making most of his appearances off the bench.

The former AFC Wimbledon ace managed just one goal in 16 outings while on loan at Cheltenham during the second half of last season.

He explained: “That two years, I had to bring out a different side of me. Maybe at home, with family, I wasn’t as happy and bubbly.

“I don’t want to feel that again now. I have lived that, I have dealt with that. Now I know how to be better in certain situations.

“It is not just myself but people around me. I have my family so I am never lonely but it is funny, when things aren’t going well, there are not as many people around you.

“All of a sudden you start doing well and there are lots - you are hot property.

“I have learned how to deal with that aspect of things as well.”

Shrewsbury have the look of a team on the up, winning three of their last four League Two fixtures to sit on the fringes of the seven heading into Saturday’s match at Rotherham.

Davison believes the squad are now starting to see reward for their efforts earlier in the campaign.

“From where it was at the start of the season to where we are now as a group, we are all pulling in the same direction, which is nice,” he said.

“It’s starting to click, or has done in recent results when we have shown a bit of everything, a bit of character and a bit of resilience as well to come back on Tuesday and turn it round.

“We have just all kind of sat down and thought we can have as much as we want from this season.

“We are fully committing to everything. Everyone has bought in and now it is really starting to show.

“It is hard when everyone is buying in and the results aren’t coming. You are thinking: ‘Why is it not working?’

“Now they are, we are all starting to see the positivity.”