John Sheridan hails character of Swindon players after they snatch late point

Posted Sunday, November 15, 2020 by PA

New Swindon boss John Sheridan hailed the character of his side as they fought back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to snatch a battling 3-3 draw away to Shrewsbury.

Matty Smith’s 93rd-minute equaliser secured a late point as Sheridan was able to avoid defeat in his first game in charge since taking over from Richie Wellens.

Goals from Aaron Pierre, Matt Millar and Dave Edwards put the Shrews into the driving seat, but the visitors bravely fought back with goals from Joel Grant, Hallam Hope and Smith.

“The players showed great character,” said Sheridan. “I really liked the response of the players to going 2-0 down. We got a foothold in the game and dominated the second half.

“I’m chuffed to bits we’ve managed to get something out of the game, it was well-deserved. But our downfall was that we conceded two early goals. We’ve conceded too many cheap goals.

“It was a sloppy first goal and the second goal was similar, people didn’t do their jobs properly. But there was a lot of good from the game, I’m really pleased seeing how we played.

“We’ve scored three goals away from home and created chances, but we don’t want to be chasing games. It’s important we keep clean sheets.

“[Former boss] Richie Wellens, who is a mate of mine, has created a good footballing side and they had a lot of success last year. But the thing is we’ve got to be stronger defensively, from back to front and our shape’s got to be better.

“We can’t come away and concede cheap goals. I think the players understand that. Defensively, as a unit, is something I’m going to make us stronger at.

“We’ve got exciting players here and we’ve got good footballers in the team.

“I told the players what I saw. We showed great character, it was important to get something out of the game, especially going 2-0 down.”

Frustrated Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts has now not seen his side win in the league in their last six outings, with a point not enough to see them haul themselves out of the relegation zone.

“I’m bitterly disappointed not to come away with three points,” admitted Ricketts, whose side have also won just one of their last 11 league matches.

“You can argue the throw-in which led to their last goal was ours, but it’s little things are hurting us at the moment. We were trying to snatch the game.

“We were eager to see the game out, but we sunk in and got punished for it. We should have gone on to get the fourth or fifth goal to kill off the game.

“Some of the goals we’ve conceded are unlucky but some of them are not good enough defending. We need to find the confidence to see a game out.

“There’s an awful lot of good starting so well and scoring three goals, but the disappointment is not taking those three points.

“We thought we’d done enough to get them, but that’s just the way it’s going for us at the moment.

“This league is very tight and we’ve deserved more points and we should have taken more points, but a couple more wins and you can climb up the league.”