Skipper takes positives from opening day defeat
New Shrewsbury Town Captain Adam El-Abd believes there are plenty of positives to be taken from Town’s opening day defeat to MK Dons.A solitary strike from Daniel Powell midway through the second-half was enough for Karl Robinson’s side to take all three points in a close encounter at the Greenhous Meadow, with El-Abd believing his side deserved something out of the game.
“It’s a big disappointment, especially after the amount of effort that we put in,” he said. “I think we deserved something.
“We probably had the better of the chances on the balance of play. They possibly had more of the ball than us but didn’t really create too much other than a couple of half chances.
“We’re disappointed but if we take the positives from the game – we’ve matched a team that’s probably going to be one of the better sides in the division. If we build on it then hopefully on Tuesday we can get the rub of the green and come away with a victory.
“It didn’t feel like we were being carved open left, right and centre. It felt fairly comfortable. Obviously when you give a goal away you’ve got to chase the game and you’ve got to take up positions that you probably wouldn’t have to take up if the game was all square, or if you’re winning then it’s the complete reverse.
“It’s disappointing but we’ve got a lot of positives to build on and we’ll go again. It’s a long season and it’s not the way we wanted to start it but I think there’s 49 games to go, including the cup.”
Town are back in action when they welcome Championship side Huddersfield Town in the first round of the English Football League Cup and El-Abd is looking for Town to get that rub of the green they were missing on Saturday.
“To be honest I’d rather finish higher up the league and sacrifice the cups because the league is the priority,” admitted El-Abd.
“If we can be in the top half comfortably and potentially mount a challenge for the play-offs then I’d prefer that to having a cup run but obviously you want to win every game.
“Huddersfield Tuesday night, at home, we have another opportunity to perform and hopefully we can have the rub of the green that we didn’t have today and win the game.”
Former Brighton and Bristol City defender El-Abd was handed the captaincy for the clash with MK and it has now been confirmed that the Egyptian international will be the club’s captain this season, something El-Abd calls an ‘honour’.
He added: “It’s a big honour to captain the side. I haven’t been here long and the gaffer’s put his trust in me to do that job.
“The truth is there’s many captains inside that dressing room. It’s a dressing room full of characters so they’ll be plenty of help for me along the way.
“It won’t be me on my own there’s lots of leaders in that dressing room and it’s good to be part of it. I’ve joined a dressing room that’s full of characters and I’m pleased to be part of that.
“It was a good experience, I always knew it would be. I came here and looked at the stadium and the training ground plans and I knew the club was heading in the right direction.
“There’s something going on here and the boys in that dressing room are a really good group. The stadium is lovely, the pitch is good and the support was good as well so there’s lots to build on and it’s all positive.”