Shrewsbury boss Michael Appleton concerned by lost duels in defeat at Harrogate

Shrewsbury boss Michael Appleton called on his players to show the same anger levels as him following another disappointing afternoon at Harrogate.

Goals from Jack Muldoon and Conor McAleny earned Harrogate a 2-0 win that ended a run of four straight league defeats.

The Shrews have now won just two of their last 26 league contests, prompting chants of ‘what a load of rubbish’ from the away end at the final whistle.

Appleton understood the fans’ frustrations and lamented his side’s lack of fight in key areas of the pitch, as well as the club’s record of only opening the scoring once in their last 27 fixtures.

He said: “I’m obviously concerned at the moment but there’s no point in me just being angry about it. I hope the players are as much as I am, because we lost too many duels to Harrogate.

“If I could go and help win second balls in the middle of the park, which I think I could have done in today’s conditions, then I would, but unfortunately my days of doing that are over. We’ve also gone a goal behind again and have done that God knows how many times now.

“It’s something I have spoken about for a long, long time. When you can’t get that first goal and the opposition keep getting it, it makes things more challenging and harder to get back into the game.”

Appleton admitted he probably made a mistake in dropping captain John Marquis to the bench.

“It was a tough decision and it looks like the wrong one now, so I’m more than happy to take the stick and flack that goes with that,” Appleton said.

“But I made that judgement based on recent performances and John was as professional as ever and made an impact when he came on. As long as you do these things professionally, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Harrogate boss Simon Weaver agreed with Appleton that his players won the midfield battle, signalling out Bryn Morris and Jack Evans for particular praise.

“They were immense and put some great, crunching tackles in, as did other players,” Weaver said. “It’s still an important part of the game and that tenacity in midfield set the tone for the performance.

“They broke up play against some gifted Shrewsbury players in there. We were well organised as a team, but it’s also about desire and you can’t put that into someone.

“Even going in 0-0 at half-time, we felt quietly confident. We were looking good and know we can play good football on our pitch.

“We believed we could get the result and went on to show a bit of an edge and ruthlessness in the final third, which is what we wanted to see.”