Gaffer talks about the togetherness in the camp
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst believes that a sense of togetherness off the pitch is helping his side get results on it.
Town have scored eight times in the final five minutes of games this season to either take home a point or to secure all three.
“You try and do things to implement it and hope that the players can take it on, but ultimately they are the ones that decide how to conduct themselves”, Hurst told Shrewsbury
“I think it is something that I’ve managed to help bring along at different clubs at different times and certainly here’s no different, so it’s a good place to be.
“After the games there’s clearly some smiling faces, but it’s nice to see those that haven’t got on the pitch, whether it’s the subs or the four that weren’t involved, also with smiles on their faces.
“I did see something that said that it doesn’t always have to be a given that people get on but I think it helps, especially when you are in a battle like we were in Saturday.”
Town returned to second-place in Sky Bet League One following Saturday’s victory, but Hurst believes that the togetherness would still be present if Town hadn’t done so well this season.
“Success helps but at the same time I remember Toto doing an interview earlier in the season and he said that it’s a good place to be and that he thinks it would be very similar if we were at the wrong end of the table”, Paul said.
“When you are winning games you get into habits and I think that helps when you are in a situation like we were on Saturday. If you are used to losing games then perhaps we lose that game, but the fact that we have won quite a few of our fixtures this season gives players the belief.
“But, in terms of togetherness, I think we would have that anyway. We managed to create that in the second half of last year and this group of players have got an advantage over that because they’ve been together a little bit longer.”
January has seen five new faces come through the doors at the Montgomery Waters Meadow and Paul believes it’s an easy environment to settle into.
“With (Abo) Eisa for instance, Doigy spoke to Abs (Ogogo) and Sads to make sure he gets looked after because it’s very different for him”, Hurst continued.
“Nathan (Thomas) comes in and he knows Toto already and Sam (Jones) knows Bolts, so things like that help, but hopefully the way that we are and the way that we introduce ourselves helps.
“More often than not it’s a good place to be, a fun place a lot of the time, but they also know when it’s work time and I think the players enjoy coming in more often than not.
“We all have our days when we would rather have a lie-in or be somewhere else but in the main I think they enjoy turning up to work and it’s nice to go to a place where they’ve got a few mates and can have a bit of a laugh as well as kick a ball around.”