The Gaffer reflects on Town’s 1-0 defeat
Shrewsbury went down 1-0 to MK Dons in the opening game of the League One season.Town were unlucky to not get something from the game, as they created a number of chances in the first half.
But, a mistake by Abu Ogogo allowed Daniel Powell to score the winner just 15 minutes before the end.
Micky Mellon was disappointed to lose the game, but felt the lads had deserved more.
“We did pretty much everything that we felt we needed to do, to get something out of the game, and I felt pretty early in the game that this was going to be tight and it might be an error that decides who’s going to win it and it just never went our way,” Micky told the press.
“But, in terms of the setup of the group and the determination, making sure we get the press right and the counter attacking right, we’d probably like to keep the ball a bit better at times, but it’s the first game of the season and overall I think we thoroughly deserved something from the game.
“I think everybody knows that we will allow MK Dons to play it square and play it across the pitch and wait for your opportunity to go and get it off him and I think that’s the way the game panned out.
“Jayson’s had only one save to make in the whole game, which is credit to the boys and the way that we defended.
“There’s stuff that we want to build on, we don’t like losing games, but sometimes the result is a bit of an imposter and doesn’t really say the whole story of the game.
“It’s important that we bounce forward, we’re not a dressing room that points the finger at anybody, everyone tries to do the right thing and sometimes we make mistakes.
“It’s just unfortunate for Abs, who’s a terrific guy and has done brilliantly for us, unfortunately for him it went against him and we lose the goal.
“I felt we had the better chances. We had some good opportunities, we made their ‘keeper work and I think the only opportunity that we gave against us is from a set play and the one that we give away, which is an error.
“But, in terms of honesty and desire to try and go and get a result, I couldn’t have asked anymore,” added Micky
Adam El-Abd took the captains armband for the game and Micky told the press after the game that he would take the job on a permanent basis.
“He’s my captain, he’s my skipper,” Micky said.
“You’ve seen from his performance today, how unlucky is he to be on the losing side after a performance like that? He’s a leader of men and we’re delighted that we have got him here.”
Olly Lancashire and Abu Ogogo missed out on the starting line-up after featuring for most of preseason, but with a number of games coming up, Micky felt it was important to mix things up.
“They’re all tough decisions because I trust all the players, but you just try and pick a team that you believe will get you a result or a performance in the game,” said Micky
“We’ve got something like 3 or 4 games in 10 days so we will need all the squad and I won’t hesitate in using them when I need them, because today was a tough shift and really warm conditions, but I trust them all, we’re all onside with each other and we know what we’re trying to do.
“It was just the way I felt would give us the best opportunity to get a result.”
Ethan Jones was given a chance in the final 10 minutes. The 18 year old looked lively and Micky believes he is ready to make an impact.
“We want to try and use our youth players,” said Micky.
“It’s important that we think they are good enough and we believe that they are going to come into the group and make an impact, and we believe in Ethan and we think that he’s capable of doing that, so I have no hesitation of putting him in.
“It wasn’t to show how good we are at developing players here, it was a moment that I thought that he would go on and give them a problem to deal with, and he did.”
After the game Micky was asked about the possibility of adding to his squad and he admitted that a deal was close.
“Verbally we might have done something, but it’s not across the line yet and many times in my experience, they’re not done until they’re over the line,” Micky explained.
“So, we’ve got things that we want to get done in certain areas of the pitch and we will continue to work hard to try and get some more impact players into the group.”