Skipper pleased with job done of League 1 safety
Nathaniel Knight-Percival was relieved to avoid relegation but the defender was hoping to get a positive result in the last home game of the season:
“It was pretty manic. It was a very open game with seven goals and from a defenders point of view it is a bit ludicrous really. But it was one of those games. We were in the mind frame of winning the game and when you are 3-1 down you just go for it. Even when we got level we still went for the win and I think that is where we went wrong in conceding the fourth goal. It wasn’t a defenders game at all.
“We are delighted to avoid the drop. It is a funny feeling because you come off the pitch not knowing. You feel strange because you have lost but you have stayed up so it is one of those things. When we were down there in January and being told the prime objective was to stay in the league, picking up enough points to allow you to do that is job done but it is disappointing losing today.”
The 29-year-old felt Shrewsbury earned some impressive results this season and praised the manager for his efforts:
“We went on a run around February when we went something like seven games unbeaten which as you can see now was very important for us. We have shown we can pull out big results with Gillingham, Sheffield United and Burton away which have proven to be valuable points. A lot of our players have put in great battling performances this season.
“The gaffer is great. All the lads believe in him and trust him and I can see why he is exhausted. A game like that today will stress him out no end so I feel a bit sorry for him. We didn’t help him out today but it is job done and he is a great gaffer. He is always encouraging and he isn’t going to come out and get on anyone’s back for no reason. He supports the lads and ultimately he is just trying to make everyone in the team a better player.”
Knight-Percival paid tribute to the fans who he hopes will have more to cheer for in the next campaign:
“When you score the first and you hear the crowd getting lively it is great. Then when the second and third went in there was some incredible noise in here today which is great to play under those circumstances when the crowd get behind you. All credit to them turning up today and giving the lads a push. We haven’t given them a result today but hopefully they will keep wanting to turn up next season and support us again in League 1 like they have done this season.
“We wanted to give the fans something to go home happy with but hopefully we have with us staying in League 1 but we wanted the result on the day to give them something to cheer about. We want to win our next game and then focus on next season. We will try our best to push on in the league next season. It has been good for a lot of our players to gain experience in this league this season and maybe that will give them good experience for next season and give them an idea of what we will be up against.”
The former Peterborough player is out of contract at the end of the season but is hoping to stay at Shrewsbury:
“I want to stay, I will have to wait and see whether the people upstairs want me. It was a very up and down season with me coming back from injury but to be captain is a real honour so to be captain of this club is really good.
“Being safe makes the award night less awkward as I think it could have been a little edgy. To be safe with a game to go is a nice feeling.”