Shrewsbury Town boss Steve Cotterill spoke to the media after today’s 1-0 win over Lincoln City at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
It was a slow and disjointed game for the most part and the two sides largely cancelled each other out in the first half.
Salop were the stronger side in the second half and reaped the rewards of their efforts when Dan Udoh netted what proved to be the winner in the 84th minute.
Cotterill discussed the game as a whole and said he was pleased with both his side’s second-half performance and Dan Udoh’s goal.
On the game:
“I thought the first half was made up of two honest teams who didn’t get into their stride, that would be my honest assessment. We cancelled each other out; when one had possession they had good possession, and when the other had possession, they had good possession, but neither really hurt anyone. We would’ve probably played the game like that for 90 minutes and would’ve bruised each other to death - that’s the way it was going. We needed to be sharper in the second half and a little bit more ruthless when we got into the final third.
“I thought it was a tough game out there today. Both teams wanted to win and it was an honest game and we changed a couple of things at half-time but tactically it was more about our running and our strength in the second half. There were a lot of players going down out there and our boys were still standing so yeah, we were really pleased with our second-half performance and I think, in the end, it’s warranted the win.
“They’re a good team. They might be down there but just because we’ve won 5-0 and we’ve been to [the side who are] top of the table and won 3-0 there, you come here and everybody thinks we’ll be alright. People look at the league table and spot that Lincoln are down there but Lincoln don’t play like a team who are down in the lower reaches of the table and that was a big result for us today.
“I think it is a tactical game whenever you play Lincoln because they’re always tactically well prepared. Michael [Appleton] and David Kerslake do a really good job with them and I think they’re always prepared. You mark my words, between now and the end of the season, Lincoln will pick up a few results that people don’t see coming.”
On the goal:
“I don’t think he was at his best today but I thought Ryan Bowman was outstanding today, even though he didn’t get the goal. On another day, as it’s been this season, Dan Udoh will be outstanding and Ryan will get the goals. It’s a typical Dan Udoh finish and we’re obviously pleased with it but I thought that as the game went on, we looked really strong and we looked really fit; that’s what I thought. I would imagine he would be happy hitting 15 [goals], he probably didn’t have 15 shots last season so to get 15 goals is a great achievement for him and I’m delighted for him.
“Today, I hoped the goal was coming because it felt like it was going to be one of those games. Talking about those chances, there were five or six good chances that would’ve put the game to bed and when you don’t take a couple of those, you’re hoping one of them is going to go in.”
