Watching Lincoln lift the Checkatrade Trophy at Wembley can help team – Mat Sadler
He stood and watched every Lincoln player as they took their turn to lift the Checkatrade Trophy.
And now club captain Mat Sadler is determined to use that hurt for good measure as Shrewsbury continue their quest to win promotion to the Championship.
Town suffered Wembley heartache yet again on Sunday when they slipped to a 1-0 loss against the Imps.
It means the club has now lost in all four of their appearances at the historic home of football.
But while admitting the defeat was hard to take, Sadler insists Town will now use it as motivation to end the season in style.
“I think it was important we stood and watched as Lincoln lifted the trophy,” the 33-year-old said.
“You cannot just bury your head in the sand.
“Lincoln deserved it on the day. And for me, I had to watch every moment of that.
“Every step those players took towards that trophy hurt. But it has to serve as a motivation.
“It can only serve as a motivation.
“What we have done this season has given us the opportunity to do something big for this football club.
“It’s been a great season, we have won a lot of football matches, let’s go again.”
Sadler admitted all the players were disappointed with how they performed at Wembley, with the defender believing they allowed Lincoln to impose their style of play.
“The word is disappointed,” he continued, discussing how his team-mates were feeling.
“We didn’t perform to the standards we have set this season.
“We didn’t do what we have done for the majority of the campaign.
“Whenever you feel you have let yourselves down as a group and as individuals, that will naturally hurt.
“We wanted to win the game. We wanted to put the hoodoo of not winning at Wembley behind us and show how good we are. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. We allowed them to play their way and in their style.
“They imposed themselves on us. And we didn’t quite match what we normally do as a team.”
While the trophy loss hurt, Sadler feels the team has already recovered from similar set-backs this season.
“I wouldn’t say losing to Lincoln is the lowest we have been this season.” he said.
“Blackburn away was a tough one. Bury away was a tough one.
“A lot of people were at Wembley to watch us and that is what hurts the most.
“We wanted to win for the fans, for our families and for our friends.
“It wasn’t to be. But we only know one way and that is to respond.
“We now have a massive game at Bradford on Thursday.
“We were disappointed with Wembley but we are determined to use it as motivation to give our supporters something even better.”
