Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury weren't up to Wembley occasion
Boss Paul Hurst felt some of his players failed to cope with the occasion of playing at Wembley following Shrewsbury’s Checkatrade Trophy final defeat to Lincoln.
A solitary goal from Elliott Whitehouse saw the Imps secure a 1-0 victory at the historic home of football yesterday.
The showpiece final marked Town’s fourth trip to Wembley in their history with all four of those matches having ended in defeats.
And Hurst admitted he felt some of his players failed to handle the expectation that comes with playing at the national stadium.
“Overall, I don’t think we were good enough,” the boss said.
“That is the honest truth. I don’t want to kid anyone. I don’t think we created enough chances.
“I just felt some of the players found the occasion difficult to handle.
“We have been involved in a lot of big games this season. Perhaps none as big as playing in the national stadium.
“It certainly looked like some of the players struggled with that. And when you get a few within a team, clearly that is going to affect how cohesive you are.”
In the dressing room after the defeat, Hurst challenged his players to “look in the mirror” and ask themselves if they did enough to win the game.
“I said to the players, I want you to go home, look yourself in the mirror and be honest,” the manager continued.
“Do you think you played as well as you can?
“Nobody has gone out there to play badly. But we laugh and joke and talk about handling situations and can you handle it?
“They all tell you they can. But clearly, some didn’t. That is the crux of the matter.
“And if you are a good professional and are honest you will look at yourself. I think one or two of them will be kicking themselves.
“We talked about not letting something pass us by, but I think – first half in particular – that is what happened.”
Hurst saw a number of key decisions go against his team in the game with Matt Rhead intentionally forcing his arm into the face of keeper Dean Henderson.
Luke Waterfall also appeared to handle James Bolton strike on goal.
But the boss refused to blame the officials for his team’s loss.
“I’ve been told there are a couple of decisions that are major talking points but I haven’t looked back at anything,” Hurst added.
“And I don’t want to sit here and talk about officials. I want to talk about the game and from my point of view we weren’t good enough.
“I didn’t hear the players moan. But in truth, I wouldn’t want to hear what they had to say about that.
“The only thing I was concerned with was our performance and what we needed to do to put things right.”
