Michael Appleton lauds Shrewsbury resilience after win over Crawley

Shrewsbury boss Michael Appleton hailed his side after a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Crawley secured back-to-back wins for the first time since February.

Unlikely hero Will Boyle headed home his second goal in as many games as the hosts made it three clean sheets on the spin while Harry McKirdy was sent off at 0-0 for the visitors.

Appleton’s charges conceded 20 goals in their first 10 league games but have now gone 321 minutes without letting one in.

He said: “It’s three clean sheets now and it’s something to be proud of and something to build on. The boys did great and got the job done.

“There’s a bit of belief now. If you score the first goal in any game of football you give yourself a great chance to win a game of football.

“It gives you something to hold on to. I know we left it late.

“I felt comfortable until those last moments of the game, I never thought we were going to concede.

“We’ve changed the shape in the last few weeks and that’s helped us. we’ve got some more bodies in the middle of the park and that’s helped.

“I’m not sure if the sending off helped us because they went a bit more direct.

“The reality is, we managed the game quite well in the second half.

“We scored a fantastic goal. It’s a fantastic header from Boyley.

“I referenced we should be doing better from set plays a few games ago.

“We’re delighted because it’s something we’ve mentioned and a clean sheet makes it even more special.”

McKirdy, who had a goal ruled out for offside, was dismissed as Crawley’s winless run stretched to five games.

Boss Scott Lindsey said: “I can say what I want, it will probably land me in trouble but there’s no point holding back.

“They are two really bad decisions. Harry McKirdy is two yards onside for the goal and Harry McKirdy slips for the sending off.

“They are really bad decisions. The first one changes the course of the game because we go 1-0 up and the second changes the course of the game because we would be playing with 11, not 10.

“It seems to be the fashion at the moment where we seem to be good on every stat except the important one [goals].

“We’ve come away with nothing again and we’re obviously very disappointed.

“I thought we were timid. I felt we were very good in the game but I don’t think we do enough to win it.

“Maybe it’s because of where we are in the league at the minute and the fact we aren’t winning games. Maybe we’re a bit frightened.

“I see a shadow of what we really are. We see glimpses of it.”