Sam Ricketts reflects on Town's 1-1 draw with MK Dons.
Shrewsbury Town welcomed MK Dons to the Montgomery Waters Meadow for Town’s return to Sky Bet League One action this weekend.
Both teams were unable to secure all three points as the score remained 1-1 at the final whistle.
Shrews manager Sam Ricketts feels Town had enough chances to win the game against Russell Martin’s team but feels Town’s fixture list began to catch up with his squad. He said: “We certainly had two or three good opportunities to score more goals than we did.
“Dan Udoh had one where he was about to tap it into the net but the defender pulled his shirt back. It stops Dan from scoring a goal but no foul is given. We had some other really good opportunities to score and we didn’t.
“We are in a period where the players are being asked to play so many games within such a short space of time. It has been continuous from a busy Christmas period up until now.
“I think that all I can ask and all the supporters can ask is the players give their all and they certainly did that. Conditions weren’t conducive to playing a game like the Liverpool game, which was a matter of days ago. The pitch and the wind made it difficult - It wasn’t a spectacle.
“It was a great finish from Omar but we had opportunities to find the back of the net before that. We didn’t do so, but Omar took it like a player who has played up front his whole career.
“It ended up being a war of attrition, you could see which team had a free week before the game. We went to Anfield and that was a real physical and mental test. MK Dons ended up being on the front foot more and won a few more second balls.
“We go into every game at the minute where whoever we are playing are fresher than us – that’s why I was so delighted with the player's attitude. They were willing to work hard to give us the best chance of winning the game.”
Sam was frustrated with the goal conceded and felt Town could have done more to prevent the Dons from equalising. He said: “It was disappointing because we had opportunities to nullify that situation.
“Likewise, we had two or three opportunities after we scored to get the second goal. That would have seen the game off and that’s what we are trying to do. Conor was outstanding and Dan Udoh worked incredibly hard.
“After that, we only had defenders on the bench. We didn’t have anyone to change the game. We could have killed the game off because they were gambling.”