No pressure for Shrewsbury yet, there’s still a long way to go – Shaun Whalley
Ten-goal Shaun Whalley insists he is not feeling the pressure of a promotion scrap despite his desire for Town to stay the pace.
Whalley, who said the current campaign is a highlight of a 14-year senior career, has been a key part of Paul Hurst’s high-flying squad this season, making 40 appearances.
The 30-year-old made it double figures for goals with his opener at Fleetwood on Tuesday. He also created the winner for Nathan Thomas, a 12th assist of the season.
The win sent Hurst’s men back to the top of League One but Whalley explained – with a crunch clash against form side Rotherham tomorrow – it is too early to be bogged down by pressure.
“I honestly don’t feel pressure myself,” he admitted. “Maybe come the last couple of games or whatever it might be different, but for now there are that many left we’re still trying to win the game on the day.
“I don’t really think about that we might drop out of the top two – as yet anyway. It might be different on the last game of the season!
“For the minute we just need to keep winning our games and see what happens.”
The former Southport and Luton man netted 10 goals for the Sandgrounders in the 2011/12 and only previously bettered that total for Conference North outfit Droylsden.
He added: “It’s fantastic. I’m made up with how the season’s gone so far.
“Wigan and Blackburn are two massive clubs really but we’re going to keep on fighting to the end of the season and see where that takes us. We just kept winning at the start of the season and it was great. Back then there was obviously a long way to go but for me there’s still a long way left to go now.
“There’s 15 games left and they’re going to be 15 hard games. I’m really hoping we can stay there.
“It’s a great feeling to be top of the league but we want to be there come April, not February.
“This is definitely the highlight. It’s the highest level I’ve played at. I’ve done well at other clubs but it’s not been in the same league.”
Modest Whalley has little time for statistics and figures and will happily leave praise to others.
“The team is the most important thing,” he said. “We’re top so it’s even better for everyone. It’s nice to get to double figures.
“I’ll leave it to other people to decide how well I’m playing. All the lads have done really well – I can’t do it on my own.”
