Gaffer's thoughts after the draw with Swindon Town
Micky Mellon was left frustrated after Shrewsbury Town earned their third consecutive draw with a 1-1 score-line against Swindon Town. Shrewsbury are now without a win in five games and have conceded first in the past seven which the manager is concerned by.He said: “It’s incredible. We know in football that 75% of teams that get the first goal go on to get the result.
“So we are making it very difficult for ourselves. I am disappointed with the defending for the goal and there is no getting away from that. But I am only saying what everyone else is saying. We should have dealt with the cross better.”
Mellon praised the side’s work rate but felt the team still has a lot to improve on.
He said: “I thought we were loose off the ball in the first half and we didn’t really got close enough in that half to give our self a chance.
“We wanted to pass it better than what we did. In the second half we were closer and worked better as a unit going up and down the pitch. We got closer to them and made it more difficult for them. But again I thought when we won it back we were a bit anxious. I thought we could have kept the ball a bit better and get a bit more control.
“In terms of fight and getting closer in the second half I am happy with that but we must keep the ball better. If everyone is honest we had the best chance of the game in the second half but it wasn’t to be. It was a terrific ball across and AJ sees it early but unfortunately he can only put it at the goalkeeper’s legs. We are disappointed that we didn’t score there but that’s how it goes. In terms of work rate I couldn’t fault us.”
The 44-year-old was impressed with Town’s counter attacks and the influence of striker Ivan Toney despite the negatives.
He said: “It was a good goal. Dodds did well to get a hold of the ball and he turned it into Toney’s path and he did great.
“He is a massive player for us and he is a real threat and runs his socks off. When he isn’t playing we miss that presence up front. It was a good time to get back in the game and we could get the lads in at half time and get them organised and speak about what we wanted to do better. We try and be honest and we must be better with the ball when we get it back but that is the story of the game.
“I think we had the best chance of the game but between the two eighteen yard boxes Swindon had the lion share of possession. But they didn’t carve us open or create a lot of chances. When I watch the game back I think I will see that we need to be better with the football and that is what we will work on again. I thought at the end with the breakaway that we were going to nick it. I thought it was going to be like the old Sheffield Wednesday charge of the light brigade goal with Jack Grimmer bursting down that right hand side but it just wasn’t to be and we collect another point.”
Despite now being unbeaten in their previous three games Mellon is adamant Town have to improve and fast:
He said: “I have to say that we are fighting hard and working hard. We know that improvements have to be made and there is no doubt about that.
“We know what they are and everybody here with half a brain will know that. We need to get better with the football and we need to be more of a threat when we get it and keep it up there. We need to make it more difficult for teams we are playing against but we are playing against good teams. They knocked the ball about as good as anybody has here this season. But we are disappointed with certain aspects of the game that we need to get better.”