Defenders thoughts after the narrow defeat away to Peterborough
Omar Beckles has highlighted the importance of resilience after Shrewsbury Town suffered our first league defeat of the season on Saturday as Peterborough claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win at the ABAX Stadium.
Marcus Maddison scored the only goal of the game midway through the first-half – a spectacular strike that left Dean Henderson with little chance in the Town goal.
Despite Salop’s best efforts in the second-half we were unable to find an equaliser, thus handing Paul Hurst’s side our first loss in 16 league outings this term.
Beckles, a summer acquisition from Accrington Stanley, stepped in to the heart of defence in place of Mat Sadler on Saturday, and after the game he spoke of the importance of bouncing back.
“We’re bitterly disappointed, we don’t want to lose full stop, let alone the run that we’ve had, but we can look back and think we’ve done really well – now it’s about bouncing back,” he told the assembled press.
“We’re still top of the league at the end of the day, we can’t be thinking it’s the end, we just have to bounce back and go again.
“[The unbeaten run] was always going to draw to an end, and it’s a shame that it did, but we can take a bit of pride from the fact we’ve gone 15 games unbeaten and mad a bit of history for the club.
“It’s a shame to lose, but I feel like we did it in the manner that anyone would want to – going down fighting, leaving nothing in the tank – we did all we could to get the result.”
The Posh are renowned as one of the best attacking sides in SkyBet League One, but Beckles admitted he felt Town dealt well with their dangerous players.
“I felt like we coped well with their threat,” he said. “Obviously towards the end we were a bit exposed, going for the equaliser.
“But in the first-half we kept them at bay, and in the second-half we played well as well. You’re always going to be exposed to the counter attacks when you go looking for an equaliser, but we did really well against that kind of attacking side.”
Beckles also revealed that despite having previously started only one league game for Town since his arrival, he is always ready to step in and put in a solid performance when required.
“I was always prepared,” he said. “You’ve always got to be prepared regardless of whether I haven’t been playing or not, myself and all the other lads that are on the bench as well are always prepared.
“I’m glad I got that call-up today, and I hope I did myself justice – it’s just a shame we didn’t get the results – but hopefully we can build on the positives.
“I’m quite critical of myself, but I thought I did alright. If I can get in a flow of games, I think I can be even better, today – that’s the minimum you’re going to get from me.”
Next up for Hurst’s men is a tasty FA Cup encounter with National League side Aldershot Town next Saturday – one of Beckle’s former clubs.
“They gave me an opportunity that I didn’t get for many years, and I’m always grateful for the exposure they gave me,” he said.
“It was a good place for me to develop, and I had good times there, but hopefully when we play them on Saturday we’ll be stepping away with a win.”