Glass is half full for Shrewsbury Town optimist Omar Beckles
Versatile defender Omar Beckles says Shrewsbury Town are looking at the glass half full as they have plenty of time to shoot up the table.
Salop sit second-bottom in League One after six games, without a win to their name.
But Beckles insists plenty of teams have taken the division by storm after slow starts including Rotherham, who beat Town in last season’s play-off final at Wembley despite being firmly in the middle of the pack at the start of December.
He also pointed towards Plymouth, who recovered from a 12-game winless run to finish just outside the play-offs.
“I’m sure a lot of fans are panicking, thinking the worst – hangover from last season and so on and so forth,” said Beckles.
“That’s not the atmosphere here. It’d be naive of us to be panicking.
“You look at Plymouth last season and even Rotherham, we can go on and on about teams that have had bad starts but have finished really well.
“Now is not the time to be panicking. We’ve just got to believe it’s going to turn around.
“There’s no reason for it to be doom and gloom.
“Don’t get me wrong, we want more points on the board but I think that everyone can tell we’re finding the right formula that works for us.
“When you look at the games, we don’t step away thinking that we should be panicking.
“You have two ways of looking at it, it’s either half-empty or half-full. We’d rather look at it half-full.”
Beckles has found himself back at left-back for the last couple of games after a spell alongside summer arrival Luke Waterfall in his natural position, as a centre-half.
And while admitting he would like to be settled in the middle of the backline, the 26-year-old’s main concern is getting Town back to winning ways.
“I’m embracing it as it is, as it goes,” said Beckles.
“I’m not exactly settled. The last two games I played left-back.
“Prior to that, I played two games at centre-back.
“I’m just happy to be out on the pitch so, for me, I’m just embracing wherever I am and going to give it my utmost.
“Of course, I’d like a run of games for consistency, confidence and that familiarity of that position but I just want the team to do well.
“It’s not about me at the end of the day.
“I’ve got to put that aside and try my best to make sure this team is going in the right direction.”
