Gaffer's thoughts after home win over Rovers
Paul Hurst hailed goalscorer Louis Dodds as his third goal in as many games set Shrewsbury Town on their way to a thoroughly impressive 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers.The midfielder struck after 16 minutes and Town never looked back, as they continued their improved run of form under Hurst to lift themselves three places in League One, and they are now only in the relegation zone on goals scored.
The boss was impressed with Dodds’ performance, and praised all aspects of his game.
“Louis’s a good player. His issue when I first came in was where do you play him?
“At the minute it’s in behind the striker in the No.10 position. He’s got license to go higher and play as a two at times.”
Hurst continued: “There’s an element of trust. He works tirelessly, he’s always high and probably top of the stats we look at. I think he ran himself into the ground again today.
“You have to give players like him a bit of a license. The goals are an added bonus.”
The performance was impressive on the whole, as Town created a lot and conceded very little in front of goal.
The team not conceded a home goal since Hurst took charge, and the manager was most impressed by the defensive improvement after a shaky start.
“Overall I don’t think we gave up too many chances, although in the first five minutes I thought I was watching a cup tie.
“I think we had two chances and they had two chances within the opening five minutes. That’s something I wasn’t happy with, in terms of a little bit of a sloppy start.
“The longer it went on I think we got to grips with it, and deservedly took the lead.”
With the amount of injuries and suspensions, Hurst’s hand was forced when selecting his team and he was quick to praise the players that came into the eleven.
“I’d certainly give credit to all of the lads, but particularly the ones that have been on the sidelines.
“Sylvan [Ebanks-Blake] has been great since I’ve come in. He’s been frustrated that he couldn’t take part in the cup games, he’s had a lot of time on the training ground doing extra with some of the other lads.
“It’s for days like today that they do it. It’s not a punishment, it’s about trying to keep them as fit as we can.”
Town’s league position has improved dramatically since the arrival of the new manager, but he says that he has no interest in looking at the league table at this stage of the season.
“Overall I’m not too concerned about the league position, we’re concentrating on trying to pick up points.”
Hurst went on: “Delighted with the players’ efforts today, there’s a little bit of rest now before our next game.
“We have two really tough games now, Bolton until today have been flying, and Rochdale have a really good home record, so today is a big, big result for us.”