Gaffer looks forward to taking on The Posh
Shrewsbury Town will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to seven games when they take on Peterborough United on Tuesday night.Paul Hurst’s side were one-nil winners at high-flying Scunthorpe on Saturday, ending the Lincolnshire based clubs 26 match unbeaten run at home.
Paul admitted that the confidence in the group is high, but is not surprised considering the results Town have had.
“A lot of the game is played between the ears”, said Paul.
“Ability wise is there a massive difference between any of the players in the league? I would suggest that if you take three or four of the top teams out there’s not a massive difference so you have to help them understand that.
“We’ve all seen in football that players who are confident look really good and then when they go the other way it’s like watching two different people.
“I do believe in the mental side of the game and the mental approach, but overall results determine that and help you go onto that next game if you have been victorious in the previous one.”
Peterborough have had an up and down season having gained notable wins against the likes of Bolton and Rochdale, but they were beaten 5-1 by Bury last month.
Paul is expecting a difficult test, but believes his players are more than capable of going there and picking up a result.
“They like to play”, said Hurst
“Over the last three or four seasons they have been a team that score a lot of goals, are always seen as an attack minded team and they’ve got some dangerous players individually that I think can just change a game.
“They are very fluent in their front six. They all look like they’ve got a lot of freedom to go and get on the ball and pick up positions. So, from that point of few it’s not the easiest game to go into and say 'this happens'.
“We’ve got to keep a shape to ourselves, try and be nice and solid, and then hopefully going the other way and trying to exploit some spaces.”
Key to Town’s success in recent weeks has been their defence, which has conceded just four goals in the last seven games and Paul admits that there is a pride in the way his side are defending.
“It’s something that I would like to have in my teams and squads”, said Paul.
“I want us to be organised, I want us to keep clean sheets. I hope that the players, even the forwards, have an element of being proud of helping the team keep a clean sheet.
“You can talk about systems, but you don’t keep clean sheets without working hard. You very seldom have success if you are not willing to work and I want people, if they speak about my teams, to say that they work hard and they are organised.
“Hopefully, there is then other things you can add to it, but that’s the basis of where I feel we have probably has success.”
Meanwhile, Paul admitted that he may have to make changes with Town set to play three games in a week for the first time since Christmas. Stephen Humphrys returns to the squad after missing Scunthorpe through injury.