Bobby Grant enjoying his time at Town
On loan forward Bobby Grant says there's even more to come from him and his team-mates as Shrewsbury Town search for a 7th straight league win at Exeter on Saturday.
Grant was part of the side that beat Walsall 1-0 at the Greenhous Meadow in Tuesday night's FA Cup first round replay, with the winning goal scored early in the second half by skipper Liam Lawrence.
It means Town will travel to League 1 high-flyers Preston North End in round 2, the first time Shrewsbury have progressed this far in the competition since the 2011/2012 season.
Grant, on loan from Blackpool, scored his first for the club against Mansfield last weekend and says he's determined to keep the feel good factor at the club.
"Getting that first goal was massive for me," he said. "My performances have been okay and there's still a lot more to come from myself. I'm getting fitter every game and that's down the manager. He's brought me to the club and to score that goal on Saturday was a boost for myself. All the lads who celebrated with me shows how much we're enjoying our football.
"With what the gaffer has in the dressing room, the quality and team spirit, if we keep doing what we're doing, we should walk this league. That's not me being big headed, I'm just telling the truth. The manager and Mike Jackson won't let us get above our station and hopefully we can continue our run.
"When the lads win, they want to win again. We forgot about beating Mansfield on Saturday straightaway and focused on Walsall. We go to Exeter this weekend to get the 3 points."
Reflecting on Tuesday's win, Grant felt the victory was even sweeter given how Town were pegged back by a late equaliser in the first match, which ended 2-2.
"There's big rivalry between Shrewsbury and Walsall," he said. "The result in the first game was hard to take and we looked the better team in both matches, it's as simple as that.
We know we've got a team that can compete against the best, as we showed against Chelsea. We've got a good, honest group of lads. We're back in on Thursday where the hard work starts for Saturday.
"I thought we deserved to beat Walsall. We watched the video back of the first game and didn't play too badly. I thought we dominated the second game, it was a bit scrappy in the first half but after the break we were in control."
The winning goal by Lawrence was cooly despatched for his second in Town colours, and Grant was full of praise for the Town skipper.
"We all know what Liam brings to the table," he said. "That goal came on his weaker foot too which shows how good he is."
The match also saw another sending off late on when Walsall's Adam Chambers was dismissed for a late tackle - it was the 10th red card in a Shrewsbury game this season.
"I was sitting on the bench and I thought he lunged in," said Grant. "I'll have to watch it back but if the referee thought it was dangerous tackle then he has to send him off."
The clean sheet was an 11th of the season for Town's defence, with nine of those coming at home.
"On our day, we have the best defence in the division," said Grant. "That's not just me saying that because they're my teammates. I haven't seen a back three and wing backs who play as well in that formation. Nat Knight-Percival is incredible, Connor Goldson is outstanding. Jermaine Grandison went on the right against Walsall and he was fantastic. When he's in the centre of defence he's a rock. If we lose the ball going forward there are the lads behind us who'll keep it out of our net."
On his own long term future, Grant is keeping an open mind but admits he's loving life at Shrewsbury and feels he can be help earn the club a place back in League 1.
"My loan is until January 3rd and there's no recall which I'm happy with," he said. "I'm made up to be here and I've said that to the gaffer and chief executive Matt Williams. It's about getting back on the pitch and when you're playing with the lads we've got in our dressing room it makes me job a lot easier.
"It's too early to say what the long term future holds but I'm enjoying my football and I've said I'll try my best to get the club promoted. I haven't spoken to the the new manager at Blackpool but that doesn't worry me. I'm happy to be here."