Gaffer reflects on game against Vale
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst spoke of his disappointment after Town were beaten 2-1 by local rivals Port Vale.On a windy night in Burslem, Vale scored twice in two minutes halfway through the second hand and despite former Vale man Louis Dodds getting one back, Town couldn't find an equaliser.
The result means that Vale now sit just two points behind Town in the League One table and left Hurst frustrated.
“We didn’t play until we were two-nil down”, said Paul.
“It was a nothing game in truth. There was a little bit of endeavour in difficult conditions, but I think the standard in general was poor.
“Both sets of players train most days and they can’t pass a ball ten yards and it turned into pretty much a nothing affair, but I did feel that the longer it went we’d get stronger.
“They’ve conceded a lot of late goals, plus the fact that they’ve played in the week, but we’ve conceded the first and then if you concede, you can’t concede again.
“It was too easy. Both goals were major errors that are easy to pick out and we give ourselves too much to do.
“Could we have got a point in the end? Yes of course we could. But, realistically you can’t just play for 20 minutes in a game and if the lads don’t understand that then we are in danger.”
Town struggled to get going on a difficult night and Paul admitted that the game had left him with a lot of questions.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing, Hurst said.
“It felt edgy. People were not doing simple things that I know they can do with their eyes closed on the training ground.
“So, the other question is, have some of the players got the temperament for it? Do they get too nervous? Are they too uptight? Were we not up for it? Were we too up for it?
“But, ultimately you’ve got to be able to pass the ball and that was the biggest disappointment for me in general, because if you don’t then it becomes a game of set-plays and the first set-play kills us.”
The result moves Town back within touching distance of the relegation zone and Paul reiterated that the season is far from over.
“We are right in the relegation fight”, Paul said.
“Whether we needed a reminder? I’ve said for a long long time that we’ve got nowhere near enough points yet and we’ve got some tough games.
“There’s home games, where we have been good, but we’ve got Bolton that are going for automatic promotion, we’ve got Millwall going for the play-offs, Southend going for the play-offs.
“Walsall are just outside and Rochdale have got some very good players. So, it’s tough, but we’ve got to play a lot better than we have tonight, otherwise there’s only one place we are going and that will be out of the league.”