Head of academy coaching happy after Burnley draw
Ian Dawes was happy with Shrewsbury Town Youth Team's performance in the 3-3 draw at Burnley on Saturday - but believes there are still plenty of areas for improvement needed.Town's Under-18s salvaged a point against the Clarets in the Youth Alliance (North West) league clash thanks to Josh Ginnelly's equaliser in the 83rd minute.
And Dawes, head of academy coaching, thought the all-round performance from the young Shrews was much better.
"We're playing the right way and we're playing well, I just think there's a few things that we need to tweak," said Dawes.
"For the majority of the game (against Burnley) the boys played to the right style and the right concepts.
"I thought our playing out from the back was much better.
"Harry (Lewis) and everyone in the back four looked comfortable on the ball.
"In the first half in particular, we looked really good in possession and really good going forward, but the lads need to work on the one-v-one defending and defending as a unit.
"Over the past few weeks now we've conceded a few too many easy goals. We've conceded another three goals (against Burnley) and they're goals the opposition have not really had to work for.
"We've been up against some of the strongest teams in the league and more than matched them. If we had just been a little bit better we'd have won more games."
Dawes also praised midfielder Ginnelly, who scored twice against the Clarets, for continuing to push himself within the Under-18s setup despite having made his debut for the first team recently.
"Josh is doing really well, and the most pleasing thing about him is that, even though he had his first team debut a couple of weeks ago, he hasn't changed his attitude in the setup of the Under-18s. If anything, he's stepped it up," added Dawes.