Graham Turner's thoughts after the 2-2 draw with Notts County
By Matt Johnson
A late Christmas present from Notts County keeper Bartosz Bialkowski left Town boss Graham Turner in jovial spirit after his blunder gifted the Shrews a point in the 2-2 Boxing Day draw.
The young Polish keeper misjudged a late Jon Taylor cross to give Town a share of the spoils after the Magpies had lead 2-1 at half-time, despite Luke Rodgers putting Town ahead.
“In the end it’s another point against a tough side,” said Turner. “Under the circumstances of the game, we’ve got to be very pleased with the point.
“When you look at Notts County’s record away from home, they’re unbeaten so far this season and that is a very good record and you can see in parts of their play why they’ve got that.
“What disappointed me is the manner that we conceded the goal just before half-time. I thought we were on top and playing with more confidence and the goal was an absolute killer. Then they had a lot of the ball second half, they put us under a bit of pressure, but we always looked a lively going forward and Jon Taylor in particular was fantastic.”
Turner praised front man Rodgers for netting his first goal in five to get the ball rolling against County, but the Town boss voiced his concern about the manner in which his side conceded an equaliser so soon after.
“He [Rodgers] was very sharp up front. The ball was knocked down and he kept it alive in their box with good movement across the front of the keeper and put it in. That’s what he can do and that’s what we want to see between now and the end of the season.
“But to concede pretty much straight away was poor. The one thing about it was the quality of the corner going in, but we should’ve defended that near post area. Once it’s cleared them its going very quick to the centre of the goal and its hit a body and gone in.
One defeat in the last seven suggests that Town are on the right track in the fight to avoid the drop and Turner is keen to extend the run on Saturday against Brentford, insisting that his side should have nothing to fear despite meeting a Bees side in imperious form.
“I think we had one of our best away performances of the season down at their place [Brentford]. We were desperately unlucky not to take the three points. But we have had a good first half to the season at home. We’ve only lost three and we’ve taken 19 points here, that’s a good record, so the message to the players is ‘don’t fear anybody’.