'I am not here to be pretty, I am here to get results' - Gareth Ainsworth reacts to Shrewsbury win
Gareth Ainsworth waxed lyrical about his Shrewsbury Town side's defensive display after they won their fourth League One game of the season.
Town kept their second clean sheet of the campaign and their first since the end of August as they beat play-off chasing Lincoln 1-0 at the Croud Meadow on Boxing Day.
Shrews have conceded the most goals in League One, but their win against the Imps saw them move up a place in the table and cut the gap to 20th place Northampton to just six points - and they welcome the Cobblers to Shropshire on Sunday.
The Town boss admits the game was not pretty but described his centre-backs as imperious in the win.
"It was sometimes not pretty," the boss said. "Sometimes we have to do what is needed, and we defended superbly well.
"Really well, I think there was one clear-cut chance for Lincoln and Jamal Blackman has made an astonishing save at the far post after a cross there.
"He claimed a lot and I thought the centre-backs were imperious today. They won every header and every tackle - they were not going to be beaten no matter how long we played.
"I am not here to be pretty - I am here to get results and keep this team in League One and that is what I am trying to do.
"The crazy thing is we could have won that 2-0 and people would have looked at the result without seeing the game and thought wow - 2-0 that must have been easy for Shrewsbury - far from it.
"The lads have defended, grafted, run, harried they have done everything."
Boxing Day has not been a happy hunting ground for Salop with them winning just two of their last 15 clashes the day after Christmas but they got a pivotal win here.
