Shrews boss Steve Cotterill: I could have changed nine players at half-time

Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2022 by PA

Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill was grateful to leave Gillingham with a point after a dismal display which left him wishing he could have made nine half-time changes.

The Shrews played out a goalless draw with their fellow strugglers, who came closest to finding the net when Danny Lloyd’s speculative long-range free-kick struck the woodwork six minutes from time.

Shrewsbury had earlier come close through Elliott Bennett, who saw a free-kick of his own tipped wide by Pontus Dahlberg, but Cotterill admitted victory would have flattered his side.

“We probably deserved no more than a point,” he said.

“It didn’t end up being a very good game of football to watch but we were fantastic on Saturday and ended up getting nothing. I’m thankful for small mercies that we got a point tonight.

“We had to defend well at times – whenever you come to Gillingham, they put it in your box from the first minute and you’ve got to make sure you defend it. At the end there, the lad (Danny) Lloyd has a cracking strike for them but it was on the outside of the post, thankfully.

“We just had too many players in the starting XI who were off-colour. I’m not being funny, I could have probably changed nine of them at half-time. We’ve not been like that for a little while.”

Shrewsbury now sit four points clear of the drop zone while Gillingham remain entrenched in the bottom four, nine points adrift of safety, after seeing their winless league run extend to 13 matches.

But Cotterill’s opposite number Steve Lovell, who remains in caretaker charge at Priestfield, took plenty of positives from his side’s performance – particularly in the absence of Vadaine Oliver, who was attending the birth of his child.

“I can’t fault the boys’ commitment,” Lovell said. “It was one of those games where we had a lot of possession but in the final third we didn’t produce.

“Shrewsbury didn’t hurt us at all tonight. We were solid defensively – not just from the back four and goalkeeper, but the midfielders and the front two all worked towards that.

“We’ve kept a clean sheet but we haven’t scored, so there’s been an improvement on one side of the ball but not the other. We’ve got to start putting it all together.

“When you’re down the bottom and you’ve not won a game in a while, confidence drains away from you.

“But full credit to the boys, as the game went on they picked it up and we just needed a chance. It just didn’t happen.

“Hopefully everything has gone OK (with Oliver) and mother and baby are doing well. I just hope he’s not having another one on Saturday, I want him back!”