Cotterill praises his side despite defeat at his old stomping ground
STEVE Cotterill saluted ‘excellent’ Shrewsbury after they stayed rooted to the early League One table after a 1-0 defeat at Pompey.
The former Blues boss returned to his old stomping ground on Tuesday night and saw
Ryan Tunnicliffe’s thirdminute goal make it three losses on the spin.
Salop came on strong after the break and pushed for a leveller through eight minutes of stoppage time, which became 11 long minutes in which Danny Cowley’s men managed to hold on to the win.
Cotterill’s side looked the pick of the three League One outfits Pompey have faced at this formative stage of the season.
And the man who spent 16 months at Fratton Park before joining Nottingham Forest in 2011, has no doubt more of the same from his side will soon see their fortunes reversed.
He told the Shropshire Star: ‘I thought we were excellent, I thought we were excellent, that's the verdict, 100 per cent we were excellent.
'I’ve got no criticism, I’m really proud of the lads, there are loads of positives to take from tonight’s game and going forward into the season.
‘We’ve come to a difficult place to get a result, a real partisan crowd, but I thought we were excellent, all-round, lots of outstanding performances.
‘I haven’t got any problems tonight, with anyone. I thought there was a huge reaction to how we performed on Saturday.
‘If we continue to perform like that, there will be enough wins around the corner.’
Pompey dominated possession against the visitors as they moved to the top of the table with victory, having 60 per cent of the ball.
But Shrewsbury carved out 10 shots on goal to the Blues’ nine, with keeper Gavin Bazunu among his side’s top performers. He added: ‘When you're that good, yeah (you're optimistic a chance will go in).
‘Against a team that will be fancied for promotion, I thought there were outstanding performances,
great saves from their goalkeepers, certainly in the second half.
‘We can't change the result but the performance will have to come first.
‘If we play like we played Saturday the results won't come, if we carry on playing like that then the results will come.’