Shrewsbury Town

Michael Jackson was ecstatic after securing his first win as a manager at Notts County this afternoon. His new charges looked dead and buried as they were two behind inside 20 minutes – just as they were last time t at SheffieldUnited. But this time, they dug deep and two goals from the impressive Jon Taylor hauled them level and within 90 seconds of the equaliser there was Dave McAllister to register his first of the season to secure a rare victory.

So how did Jackson feel after a whirlwind 24 hours: “Tired,” said the boss. “I nearly had a heart attack on the sidelines there. I thought the first 15/20 minutes we looked sacred to death. The first thing we asked them to do was get the ball up to Tom Eaves and turn them round early but we didn't do that. We rode our luck but credit to the players cos they've stuck at it and come through it. That result was never going to be simple and it was always going to be like that today.”

The manager felt that the two goals his side conceded were poor citing the first one as not being tuned in to a routine delivery into the box where the defenders stood motionless, and the second a poor challenge from his skipper which resulted in a penalty to give County that two goal cushion early doors. “I think defensively we've been pretty sound but we were poor in the first 20 minutes and that's something we'll need to work on. Thankfully at the top end of the pitch we were on our game which is pleasing,” said Jackson.

Jimmy Spencer was sent off just before the break after Taylor had narrowed the deficit and in the words of County boss Shaun Derry, it changed the dynamics of the game. So how did Jackson see it? “My first reaction was that the lad had done him (Connor Goldson) with an elbow. I'll take a look at it and I might have to apologise to Shaun if I've got it wrong. Our scouts went to watch him at Wolves last week and he was doing it all the time. He must have given away 4 or 5 free kicks away. It did us a bit of a favour definitely and at half time I told the lads to get the ball through to the front two rather than play around at the back. We told the full backs to open up a little bit wider and to keep the two centre mids where they were and we managed to get ourselves going again.”

Jacko was asked about the contribution of Taylor who was easily Town's best player: “I left him out last week because I didn't think he did well enough in the game against Sheff U. That's the type of response I want from him and Tom Eaves and I thought Tom was unplayable in the second half. That's what it's got to be. I told them both yesterday after a new formation I tried in training didn't work, that I'd changed things and they'd both be playing that they owed me one, the club one and themselves one.

Jackson thought that McAllister had shinned, headed and kneed his winner after 69 minutes “He's got the heart of a lion. He works really hard so I'm really pleased for him getting into the box and scoring – it's what we need from our midfield players,” said the new manager.

His reaction at full time was one of relief: “You get emotional watching the game,” he said. “You're still watching it and you're wrapped up in it but sometimes you react to things more than you should and it's something I'll need to keep a check on cos I lost it a couple of times.”

Jackson recognised that a win at Coventry tomorrow week would bring about successive victories for the first time this season and give everyone around the place a huge lift. “It's a challenge now to go there and try and make it 6 points from 2 games and flip the league table around a bit,” said Jackson. 

Fraser Fyvie will be going back to parent club Wigan after a knee injury in training and Jackson said that they might need to look at strengthening the squad if the right players are available.

The players will be given the day off on Monday in preparation for Sunday's game. After today's endeavours few would say they hadn't earned it.