Goldson remaining positive about the task ahead
Shrewsbury Town defender Connor Goldson has backed his teammates to pick up eight wins from the remaining 16 games to ensure League One survival.
Saturday's defeat at Sheffield United leaves Town second bottom, but ahead of next weekend's derby against Port Vale at the Greenhous Meadow, Goldson says now is not the time to panic.
"The players were all fuming after the game," he said. "Mike Jackson has come in and given us a positive talk saying we need to stick together as a team. It's not like there are three games left, we've got 16 games remaining and enough points to play for. We're not relegated already, we're no where near it. There are a lot of teams around us on similar points. If we can get a few wins, I'm sure we'll get out of it. 24 points is only eight wins. It's not eight from eight, or eight from 10 matches. We can't think it's a tall order, we just need to stick together."
Goldson says he's spoken to the rest of the players about the importance of ensuring Shrewsbury's place in League One, after dropping down a level to play for Cheltenham on loan earlier this season.
"I've said to the boys that while there are good teams like Portsmouth in League Two, compared to this level, it's no-where near the same level of quality," he said. The football is completely different. Teams in this league try to play football, but in League 2, no disrespect it's head and hook. It's a fight and scrap every game. We need to stop in League One and make sure we're going to grounds like Bramall Lane and Molineux."
The 21 year old admitted Town were "sloppy" against the Blades, with two goals inside the opening 17 minutes securing the win for Nigel Clough's side.
"We've gone into the game ready to go and determined to do well," he said. "We were geared up to get three points and got hit with two sucker punches. They haven't done much else in the game, but at this level its enough to win you the match. They've done a job on us, sat back, let us have it and then caught us on the counter-attack. The result and performance feels like a step back but I don't want to say 'this was bad' or 'that was bad.' We need to stick together. We know we can compete against anyone in this league as we showed against Brentford who are top of the table last Saturday."
Goldson says the focus is now on beating Port Vale at the Greenhous Meadow next Saturday.
"It's a massive game," he said. "The fans won't be happy leaving Sheffield but they'll be 100% behind us next week in a local derby and help us push up the table. We've got 20 players in that dressing room all wanting to give their best for Shrewsbury Town. We're desperate for a win, whether it's home or away. Hopefully that'll be on Saturday."