Dan Copnall reacts to Town’s defeat against Bury FC in the Youth Alliance League
Shrewsbury Town took the lead twice against Bury, courtesy of goals from Ethan O’Toole and Ryan Grosvenor.
However, the home side reacted well and were able to equalise just minutes after going behind both times, and two late goals for Bury meant that Dan Copnall’s side came away ‘disappointed’ with the result.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with a 4-2 result. I wouldn’t say it was a 4-2 game.
“We started the game really well, we went ahead and I think at 2-1 we managed to score at a time where we had to defend deep and we managed to get a goal against the run of play.
“We started to had to try and chase the game a little bit and we left ourselves open. It was disappointing to concede directly from a corner which put them 3-2 ahead.
“But overall, there were a lot of good moments and good individual performances. We have to learn from it and bounce forward again.”
There were changes in the starting line-up that started in the 2-2 draw against Wrexham two weeks ago and there were also some changes on the bench, and Dan explained the reason for the changes.
“The reason for the changes is because we have a few injuries at the moment, so it’s an opportunity for some under 16’s to step up. We had some 16’s starting; one of them was on the bench and an under 14 was on the bench as well.
“Players who also deserve that opportunity from playing well for the other age groups so it’s always nice to give them an opportunity when required.”
The last game in the Youth Alliance League before Christmas for Shrewsbury is away at Accrington Stanley and the Head of Development Coach has looked ahead to what he might expect from that game.
“A reaction. I thought we had a lot of spells on the ball so win, lose or draw we want to play our way. We want to try and build from the back, we want to play through the thirds and we want to switch play.
“So as long as the lads can show the same effort and the same commitment from which they did today. We’ve got good players in the ring and some good younger players coming through.
“There is no doubt that they’ll bounce back and they’ll end the season really strong.”
Whilst the team for Accrington has not yet been decided, Dan has said it could be an opportunity for some of the young players to feature.
“We’ll have to look at the numbers we have available, look at which players are in use, which players are playing up, which players need to step in.
“That’s the beauty of this football club. There is a pathway for players as we saw today. We are not afraid to chuck players in and that’s the same down the under-age groups. If they are good enough, they will play.
“We want to create a pathway for individuals to come through. Certainly, if they’re required and they’re also in form, then they should get their opportunity to play.”