Time for Shrewsbury to crank up pressure – James Bolton
Defender James Bolton insists tonight’s clash at Bradford is ‘massive’ as Shrewsbury aim to take advantage of Blackburn slipping up.
Town will look to recover from Sunday’s Wembley setback with a victory against the out-of-sorts Bantams, who have won just once in 14 games.
Three points for Paul Hurst’s men would narrow the gap to second-placed Rovers to two points after the Ewood Park side surrendered two points in a draw at Gillingham on Tuesday night.
Right-back Bolton, who has recently recovered from an ankle problem, labelled Blackburn and Wigan as ‘resilient’ and said it is up to Town to take advantage.
“I wouldn’t say I check the scores minute-by-minute!” said Bolton, regarding the progress of Town’s automatic promotion rivals.
“I’ll probably check at half-time and full-time to see what’s going on.
“They’ve been resilient, that’s what I’d say. They haven’t really dropped points, to be honest.
“You’re waiting for them and waiting for them but they don’t really seem to. It’s tough but hopefully we can keep piling on the pressure and doing what we can.
“We need to take advantage.
“Tonight’s game is massive. If we can get a win then it closes the gap to two points, if not there is still a five-point difference and it looks a bit much considering they haven’t dropped many points.
“I think it’s a big night for us.”
Much of the attention this season has been placed on Shrewsbury’s high-profile rivals while Hurst’s has, to some extent, guided his team under the radar. But Bolton has been happy with the underdog tag.
“I’ve not minded the attention on them, so much. We’ve handled the underdog card well this season, I think. They’re always going to get the limelight, they’re the big teams.”
He added: “They have spent all of the money and we’re just little Shrewsbury. It’s played into our hands this year.
“People take us a little bit lightly and more fool them.”
Meanwhile, Town have sold 2,000 tickets for their final away trip of the season at Blackpool on April 28.
Two hundred more are available with another 500 on their way. The Seasiders did initially 2,200 tickets but upped that to 2,700 after discussions between the clubs.
