Manager on the Shrews game
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to us shortly after full time on Saturday.
He said: “It’s one of those where we come away wondering how we didn’t get something out of the game.
“In terms of how we played it was a much better performance and it is a very quiet dressing room at the moment. They know they’ve dominated it and they know it’s one of those games where we shouldn’t be looking at a defeat.
“This happens in football and the good thing is that we know if we play that way every week we’ll be picking up points again.
“Their first goal was a good one but we have to better for the second. That’s the one which has made the difference and we have allowed their man to come too far. We’ll look at that but, overall, we have seen energy and determination and we’ve won most of our battles. I feel exactly the same way as the players feel because it’s disappointing for us to have nothing to show from a game where we have played well.
“We felt we needed a bit of experience with our team selection with the situation we are in at the moment, so we went with some older heads. We’ve managed to dominate for long periods and I’m really pleased with how they have performed because it’s that type of attitude which will get us the results we want.
“It was good for us all to see Lee [Miller] back. We saw in the first half what he brings to the side with the way he linked up with Joe [Garner] and with his presence. A fit Lee Miller would probably have scored with the chance he had late on, but the 80 or so minutes he had will have done him the world of good. He’ll only get better with the more football he plays so that’s a massive positive for us. We’ve obviously lost Joe Garner to the end of his loan deal but he has had a good time here. He’s enjoyed himself, got his football and his goals, so it’s one we’ll talk about with him and with Watford once we get into January. The good thing for us at the moment is that we have other players who can come in and do a job, so things are looking much better for us.
“The fans are obviously going to be disappointed because they like to see their side win. It gave the players a huge lift when they saw them all stay behind to clap them off at the end of the game, because that shows they appreciated the effort. They’ll have their grumbles and we accept that, because we’ve lost a game of football. Hopefully they’ll stick with us as we work hard to get back to winning games, and I guarantee that will happen now that we are getting back to somewhere near full strength.
“This is a big period for us but I think every game is vital anyway. None of us are happy with where we are and we know we have to improve things quickly. We looked a decent side for long periods today and that’s what we will take with us into next week as we get ready for the next one.”
