Mal Benning: Shrewsbury Town needs to move past their challenging performance
A week has passed since Salop’s lackluster performance and outcome against their relegation-threatened rivals, Cambridge United, at Abbey Stadium, when they lost 4-1.
They are now nine points down at the bottom of League One as a result.
That is a tough margin to overcome, and defender Benning, who missed last weekend’s clash through suspension, says everyone knows they are in a tricky spot at this point of the campaign, but they must stay upbeat and implement Gareth Ainsworth’s game plans.
He said: “Last weekend was not the result we wanted, and obviously the score sheet doesn’t look good, reading 4-1, but all we can focus on is the next game.
“We need to stay positive. Everyone knows we’re in a difficult situation at the moment, but all we can do is keep working on ourselves, working on the game plan the gaffer implements, and hopefully, we can pick up a few more results and work our way further up the table.”
There has been so much change in Shropshire over the last month with previous boss Paul Hurst being sacked and Ainsworth then being appointed at the end of November.
Benning has been through a lot of managerial change throughout his career, and he says you must focus on yourself to keep your standards high.
“The previous gaffer I got along with quite well, and the new gaffer’s really good too,” he continued. “I’ve been through a lot of change in my career, I’ve had quite a few managers in and out.
So all you can really focus on is yourself, keeping your standards up and hopefully impressing the new gaffer that comes in.
“The change the boss has brought in has been really good. The training sessions with himself and Dobbo (Richard Dobson) have been good, they work on very fine details to the game plan they want to implement on the weekends.
“The last couple of results haven’t gone our way, but you can see from the Birmingham game especially, and the first half at Blackpool, the way he wants to play.
“On the front foot, aggressive, high tempo, so hopefully the lads can show that in the next couple of games and get the results that we need.”
Town welcome the league leaders Wycombe to the Croud Meadow today.
Their side includes former Shrewsbury fan favourite Dan Udoh, who left the club in the summer.
It will be the first time he has returned to Shrewsbury since his departure.
Former captain Luke Leahy will also be in the Wycombe team, who have been in sensational form so far this season.
And Benning says Town must take confidence from their recent victory against Birmingham in Shropshire.
He said: “Everyone will have looked at the result on Saturday in a massive six-pointer, let’s be honest, but it’s gone now, it’s done and dusted so all we can do is move forward onto Wycombe, and they’re top of the table.
“Birmingham were near the top when we played them, so we’ve got nothing to fear, nothing to lose, so hopefully we can go and implement our game plan and pick up a result.
