Pete Wild full of praise for ‘excellent’ Fleetwood after beating Shrewsbury

Pete Wild felt Fleetwood’s 3-1 win at home to Shrewsbury was “as good as we’ve played all season”.

Goals from Ryan Graydon, Lewis McCann and Matty Virtue made it 10 games unbeaten at home for the Cod Army.

“I thought we were excellent,” Wild said. “That was as good as we’ve played all season.

“We’ve played like a team of men and gone toe-to-toe with them, winning every tackle. For me, the whole squad deserves credit and all of the praise for how they’ve done today.

“As much as we’ve had to scrap at times, I was also really pleased with some of the football we played. Some of the balls we put into the box caused our opposition real problems and if anything I felt we could have had a couple more goals.

“We did well with and without the ball and we were dominant when we had it. I’d definitely argue that this was our most comprehensive victory of the season.

“We fought hard and I felt we got just what we deserved, which is the three points.

“The only real frustration for me was our inability to keep a clean sheet. That was really frustrating as I felt we’d weathered that storm, so letting one in late on was disappointing.

“We’ve done well to be solid at home of late, so it’s a real shame to lose that clean sheet as it adds that bit extra to the win.”

Shrewsbury boss Michael Appleton was hugely frustrated with the manner of the goals his side conceded.

The loss leaves the Shrews just a point above the relegation places in League Two and that is something that is on the mind of their manager.

“When you strip it back and look at each of the goals individually, we have to do better,” Appleton said.

“For the first one we lose the first and then the second contact. The second we haven’t got out, yet after defending a previous chance we find ourselves still in our own six-yard box and for me that is a little detail that we need to work on.

“The third one was a mistake in terms of a poor clearance but I want lads making the ground up on the ball and making it a bit more difficult for them. We weren’t pressing high enough and it allowed Matty (Virtue) a much more simple finish than it looked.

“The biggest disappointment is the fact that we’ve created as many chances as them and we’ve not taken advantage of them. I’ve said that directly to the players and they agreed.

“In terms of the stats, we must have had as many touches in the box as them but we have to be better at being more ruthless when we get in the box.”