Skipper disappointed not to take all 3 points
Tenacious midfielder Abu Ogogo has hailed the Salop faithful for their support as Shrewsbury Town maintained their unbeaten start to the league campaign with a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.
The point ensured Paul Hurst’s side remained top of the SkyBet League One table, as a late, late Bradley Dack’s strike for the visitors cut out Toto Nsiala’s opener.
Ogogo, who has been an ever-present figure in Town’s XI this term, declared the 6,583 Town fans at the Montgomery Waters Stadium played a huge role in the team’s impressive performance.
“The supporters are like a 12th man,” he told the press. “When you’re tired and you hear the roar from the crowd they push you on that extra one per cent or two per cent, and the boys definitely appreciate that support.”
The former Arsenal trainee also admitted there was a tinge of disappointment that his side could not hold on for all three points.
“We’re disappointed to be fair,” he said. “Seven minutes away from the win, and Stef [Payne] had a good chance to make it 2-0, which we’d normally back him to score.
“Their goal was scruffy, so the boys are disappointed with that, but everyone played well today and Blackburn are a big club, so to be disappointed to just get a point shows how far we’ve come.
“I know they hit the bar, but we had a couple of decent chances as well, and over the 90 minutes I think we did enough to warrant getting the win.”
A key factor in Town’s success this term has been the formidable midfield-three of Ogogo, Ben Godfrey and Jon Nolan, and the no.8 revealed he’s enjoying playing alongside the athletic duo.
“They’re good players,” Ogogo enthused. “Ben likes to sit, and me and Nolo are more box-to-box, so with Ben sitting we have that license to get forward and help the strikers.
“But there’s rotation there too, sometimes me or Nolo can sit, and allow Ben to get forward. And it’s good to have Bryn [Morris] back too, there’s more competition for everyone, and we know whoever the gaffer plays will do a good job.”
Next up for Town is a trip to Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night, and the London-born midfielder acknowledged that although it’s nice to be top, Town must take each game at a time.
“It’s nice to look at the table and see you’re top, obviously since I’ve been at Shrewsbury we’ve never been in this position,” he continued. “But it’s only been nine games and we’ve got a long way to go yet.
“The games can’t come soon enough for us, we want to play as many games as we can in quick succession, we just have to make sure we recover well, don’t get too carried away, and keep our feet on the ground.”