Steve Cotterill reflects on Town's Emirates FA Cup second round away win over Carlisle United.
Shrewsbury Town's Emirates FA Cup second round fixture away from home with Carlisle United ended with Town securing passage into the third round of the competition.
Tom Bloxham and Ryan Bowman were the duo on hand to ensure Town left the north with the win as Steve Cotterill's team shifts focus onto Wednesday's Sky Bet League One action.
"It's job done today but it wasn't the prettiest of games. It was a difficult pitch, very heavy for both teams. We thought Ethan Ebanks-Landell would be ok for the game. Him going off disrupted us a little bit. We started the game great and managed to get into the situations we wanted to get into to score the goal. Carlisle have a passionate crowd behind them and they had nothing to lose.
"I thought we defended well up until conceding the goal late on and I think that was a lapse in concentration on that side of the pitch. When you make subs, that can happen. It was a tough game, a tough place to come with a long journey but thankfully we are into the next round. I am really pleased with our goals. It's always pleasing when the strikers get goals. Tom's had a great week having passed his driving test and now scoring today.
"Dan Udoh made an excellent pass for Ryan Bowman who I thought finished off the goal great. I'm sure that one will be pleasing for him coming back to his hometown. It was a difficult game out there today for the lads. Now we just have to get ourselves off home and see who's available for what is another long week with lots of travel.
"Getting into the third round is something we wanted when we started off. We wanted to look forward to the draw and maybe get a good tie. We didn't want to talk about the draw until we were in it, thankfully we are. We'll take what we're given. We have two big games next. We need to evaluate where we are on Monday to see who's available and go from there."
