Ricketts is Ok with a ‘grinding’ Town win

SAM Ricketts admits Shrewsbury play dull football – but that’s just the way he likes it after they scrapped their way to victory at Blackpool.

Striker Fejiri Okenabirhie’s penalty secured Town back-to-back league wins and they will celebrate Christmas inside the top half of the table.

Shrewsbury are the league’s third lowest goalscorers, but also have the third meanest defence, and Ricketts hailed their professional approach in winning at a promotion contender.

“We’ve always struggled to get a real good game of football and it ends up being a bit of a grind,” boss Ricketts said.

“But for a side which are potent going forward and how many goals they’ve scored, we nullified them to large extents.

“We weren’t scintillating with the ball but, like I said, it was very hard to do so with the conditions.”

Visiting stopper Max O’Leary kept the game goalless after 20 minutes after acrobatically palming Armand Gnanduillet’s header over the crossbar.

Shrewsbury themselves went close to taking the lead five minutes later, when Jak Alnwick parried Scott Golbourne’s cross to Donald Love, who fired just wide.

The Tangerines almost went ahead two minutes after half-time, when Gnanduillet’s header struck a post.

Town won a penalty 10 minutes after the restart for a handball against Gnanduillet and Okenabirhie hit the back of the net off Alnwick’s foot for what was the winner.

Blackpool’s Ben Heneghan should have done better with a free header 15 minutes from the end, while Salop’s Shaun Whalley blasted over when well placed.

Blackpool manager Simon Grayson was frustrated with referee Seb Stockbridge’s decision to award Shrews a penalty. “I went in to see him about it,” Grayson said.

“He says Armand’s punched the ball, which my answer to that would be why would somebody deliberately punch the ball in his own 18-yard box?

“Armand’s adamant that he’s been pushed from behind, the referee said he didn’t see that.

“I thought we played well in the first half. The system we played and the movement we had, caused them quite a few problems.”