Defender looks back on Burnley win
Shrewsbury Town defender Luke Hendrie was pleased to get 90 minutes under his belt in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Burnley.
The former Burnley full-back played the first half at right-back before showing his versatility in the second 45 minutes by playing at left-back.
“Physically I feel good, training’s been hard and from a personal point of view I’ve worked hard over the summer and I’m feeling good”, said Luke.
“I think the first-half, in bits, was alright, but the second-half was a lot better and when you are playing you can tell that. With the ball we were better and without it I think we were as well.
“Overall, it was a good workout and against quality players which is what you want to do, to test yourself against the best players.
“It’s still early days and we’re getting to know him (the manager) and he’s getting to know us, but I think you can see now that there’s foundations starting to be set, which is only a good thing.”
The performance might not have been what John Askey had been looking for, but an own goal after some good work from Fejiri Okenabirhie gave Town the win and Luke believes that can breed confidence.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve had that winning mentality that we want to carry on throughout this season”, Hendrie continued.
“Last year was an excellent season for us, but obviously we’ve lost a few players, so we just want to try and keep that momentum going, which won’t be easy, but the players that have come in have done well and that can only bode well for the future.”
Luke was one of only two Town players to play the whole game and he is hoping to force his way into John Askey’s plans for the start of the season.
“Wherever the manager wants to play me I will play”, said Hendrie.
“I think when I was at Bradford in the first-half of last season I played more games at left-back than I did right-back, so that’s something that I can do.
“If the manager needs me to play midfield then I can do that as well, but I just want to be on the pitch. Last year was frustrating for me personally whilst the team was doing well, but I just want minutes.”