Shrewsbury Town players told to keep their cool by boss Sam Ricketts
Sam Ricketts has urged his Shrewsbury players to keep their emotions in check amid a tantalisingly tight relegation scrap.
Town dropped to 20th in League One, one point above the drop zone, after defeat at Rochdale – but can climb a staggering seven places with a win at Plymouth tonight, if results elsewhere go their way.
Boss Ricketts admits he cannot recall a fight for the drop of this nature and stresses his side must remain calm and concentrate on their own form.
A winner in the goalless draw with AFC Wimbledon 11 days ago would have sent Salop 13th, instead the 2-1 Rochdale loss saw them fall to 20th.
“It’s a strange one, you can’t let your emotions get too carried away if you win or lose,” said Ricketts.
“If we win we haven’t achieved what we want to. If we lose we haven’t lost what we’re trying.
“It’s tough to remain level-headed, every game has so much importance put on it. I can’t remember a season where there’s been that many teams.
“Eleven or 12 are within half a dozen points of each other, it’s phenomenal.”
Mid-table Wycombe, in 12th and just four points clear of Town, visit Montgomery Waters Meadow on Saturday as the run-in heats up.
Ricketts has experienced a survival fight go right to the wire as his Hull side survived Championship relegation on the final day – before achieving promotion via the play-offs the following season. But he confessed he will only feel satisfied about Shrews’ current plight when survival is secured.
The boss added: “It’s unbelievable. If you talk about ourselves – back-to-back wins and we jump to 17th – everyone’s thinking ‘well that’s alright we’re up to 17th’.
“Then a draw and a loss and we’re 20th – but three points off 13th. It’s phenomenal.
“Even if we were sat in 13th we’d be saying ‘this is alright’ but one set of results and you can all of a sudden drop down so quickly.
“We can only worry about ourselves. I have a rough idea of where we need to be, now it’s down to us to do it.
“I’m confident we can. It’s hard not to take in what everyone is doing but we need to worry about ourselves. We could win and jump four or five places, it doesn’t mean we’re safe.”
Shrewsbury made the long trip down to Devon yesterday. They were doing some light work this morning before preparing for tonight’s clash.
Town are without James Bolton (ankle) but the injury is not thought to be long-term. Midfielder Anthony Grant returns from a two-game suspension.
