Skipper Ian Sharps urges final flourish

Skipper Ian Sharps has warned Shrewsbury Town not to take their foot off the gas when they travel to AFC Wimbledon for the season finale on Saturday.

Town sealed promotion to League One with their 1-0 win against Dagenham & Redbridge last week and the mood in the camp has been buoyant all week.

But Sharps is aware that champions Swindon lost two games on the bounce after they secured promotion, and he does not want to see any similar slackness from the Shrewsbury players this weekend.

Sharps said: "We can't afford to lose our focus because we have loyal fans who will be travelling to watch us this weekend and we want to put on a show for them.

"There is no doubt that winning promotion has taken a weight off our shoulders, but we need to use that to our advantage rather than slacking off this weekend."

The captain reckons the spirit in the dressing room has been the driving force behind the club's success this season.

"There are no bad eggs in this dressing room and I think that's because the gaffer realises that as well as bringing in players with the right technique and ability, you have to bring in people with the right type of personality.

"A few of the lads are really close and go out socialising together and that can only benefit the team as a whole."

Sharps has been an integral part of a Shrewsbury defence who have kept a remarkable 18 clean sheets in League Two this season.

The charismatic skipper admits that it took time for the defence to get it right, but says he is delighted with how they have performed since.

He added: "For the first 15 or 16 games of the season we were making a few individual errors and conceding more cheap goals than we do now.

But we did a lot of intensive work with the coaches, watching videos and doing drills to help us address that and I have been really chuffed with how we've done since then.

"That's not just down to the defenders and the goalkeeper though.

"We have also kept the ball really well and that makes your job as a defender a whole lot easier."

See also:

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• Matt Richards big winner at fans’ awards night

• Graham Turner will meet new test head on