Woods is a Shrews skipper in waiting
TENACITY and tirelessness is what Shrewsbury boss Micky Mellon wants from his captains and he believes Ryan Woods is fast proving he can fit the bill.
The 21-year-old, who was the subject of two bids from West Ham back in January, took on the armband as regular skipper Liam Lawrence dropped to the substitutes’ bench at SportsDirect.com Park.
But it was James Collins who netted the Shrews’ equaliser after Liam Kelly had opened the scoring for Oldham from the penalty spot soon after the break.
“Ryan Woods will keep going and trying to drive things on,” said Mellon.
“He won't get disappointed and he kept on battling away.
“He is a small guy who drags us on all the time and epitomises everything we want from a footballer.
“All too often he has been the driving force, so why not make him captain?
“It was reward for him and his leadership qualities.
“After our goal, we started to take control of the game a lot more and found little angles which looked like a Shrewsbury team playing.
“The two centre-backs were magnificent for the whole game.”
The Latics were unlucky not to go in at the half one goal to the good after Jonathan Forte rattled the crossbar with a volley.
But they earned a golden opportunity when Matt Tootle tripped David Dunne in the box – and Kelly made no mistake with the penalty.
Woods helped rally the Shrews but Collins made an opening by himself, dispossessing Jonathan Burn and rounding Oldham keeper Joel Coleman before applying a simple finish.
The visitors would have taken away all three points – with a Mark Ellis header cleared off the line and a Shaun Whalley drive parried away by Coleman – and Oldham boss Darren Kelly admits his side let the game slip away.
“For about 70 minutes, the game was ours to take,” said Kelly. “Through a little lapse in concentration, we conceded a soft goal.
“The boys put in a shift and we are obviously disappointed not to win. It almost feels like a defeat, to be honest, but we move on.
“We got a penalty but ideally, we would have liked to have created more chances and had more penetration in the final third. But it wasn’t to be.
“When we were in possession, we showed good quality and got into good areas.
“All credit to Shrewsbury though for battling back, albeit with a soft goal.
“When you concede, you want the character to shine through. Shrewsbury, when they scored, started to get on top and the goal gave them confidence.”