Dave Winfield urges the Town family to stick together
Defender Dave Winfield has urged the Shrewsbury Town "family" to stick together after Saturday's defeat against Rotherham United at the Greenhous Meadow.
Town lost three-nil against the Millers with all the goals coming in the opening 21 minutes. The result meant a sixth straight home defeat for Graham Turner's side and Winfield knows only a collective effort will turn fortunes around.
"The gaffer takes the rap and so do the players, staff and everyone involved," said Winfield. "It never boils down to one person though. We are a collective family here and I would never put it on one individual. I can tell you right now the boys in that dressing room wouldn't either. We just have to get ourselves out of it."
Winfield, a summer signing from Wycombe Wanderers, says past experience of being at the wrong end of the table could prove invaluable for the end-of-season run in.
"I've been in this position before," he said. "The only way you can get out of it is by sticking together as a team and working hard. If someone makes a mistake, you pick each other up. You grind your way out of it. We did very well over the Christmas period although we didn't get the points we deserved.
"We're disappointed. Nobody in that dressing room wants to lose. As a group we have to keep our heads up and keep going. There are 19 games left and those games are very important. We need to be as positive as we can."
He says spirits at the club remain good, and despite the home run, is adamant Town can pull clear of trouble,
"Confidence isn't an issue," he said. "We haven't won at home for a little while but it's not got into our heads. We need to dig in and stay together as a team in training and through the games coming up.
"We can understand it's a frustrating time for supporters. We, as players, don't want to lose so it's frustrating for us too. If we are trying to stay together as a group, we would appreciate the fans staying together as well. We are a football club who care about what we do, we are passionate about what we do. We want to move forward."
Town now face back-to-back away games at Swindon on Saturday and then a long trek to Colchester the following Tuesday. Winfield is hoping for an upturn in fortunes on the road, where Shrewsbury have picked up some decent results recently with wins at Stevenage and Oldham.
"We will go there with a positive attitude, and go to attack," he said. "We've got to concede fewer goals because we conceded three in each of the last two games and that needs to be addressed."