Shrewsbury Town defender Mal Benning says the players cannot shy away from a disappointing start to the new season, as reported by the Shropshire Star.
Shrewsbury’s season so far has seen them lose seven of their nine League One outings, managing just one win in their tally of four points. They are only kept off the bottom of the division thanks to Cambridge United, who have just one point from their opening eight fixtures.
The poor start to the campaign has led Benning, a free transfer from relegated Port Vale in the summer, to have his say on the current situation. He insists that while the number of points on the board is ‘not good enough’, there have been positives with performances so far.
“It has been tough. No one can hide away from that,” he said.
“The points tally obviously is not good enough. But, for me personally, I think the performances (of the team), on the whole, have been good.
I think from my point of view it is Wrexham, that is the only game where we were battered, I would say.”
The 3-0 defeat to Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground is Salop’s biggest defeat of the season so far but Salop have managed just one point from their last five matches but Benning believes things will change.
“We cannot hide away from the fact we are in a tough spot at the moment, but I have been in this situation a lot of times in my career. The main thing is working hard, and I believe that things always do change, and they always have to be fair, so it is just grafting away until we get on to that good run of form.”
The former Mansfield Town defender isn’t getting too concerned with the current situation. “It is inevitable that you will a bit with these kinds of runs. But like I said, all you can keep doing is working hard to rediscover the team’s form and unity together.”
Shrewsbury head to Bolton Wanderers this afternoon having already been beaten by Ian Evatt’s men in the EFL Cup back in August and are in search of their first points on the road since a 1-1 draw at Charlton Athletic in April.
Writer’s View
This must be a worrying time for Town fans as they have seen their side win only once since March last season. A trip to the Toughsheet Stadium to face a now-in-form Bolton is not a fixture to look forward to.
After an indifferent start to the season, Wanderers have now scored 11 goals in their last three league victories. Salop’s defence has already shipped 15 goals this campaign and will have a tough afternoon in Lancashire.
At some point, something will have to change at Montgomery Waters Stadium as working hard will not be enough to keep the club in the third tier. This afternoon’s fixture will be tough to take anything from but the players will be desperate to get points on the board against a fellow bottom-four side in Crawley Town next weekend.
