Shrewsbury Town duo hailed after stepping in
Shrewsbury Town duo Steve Arnold and Aaron Amadi-Holloway have been applauded for coming in from the cold and proving they are up for the fight.
Goalkeeper Arnold and striker Amadi-Holloway got 90 minutes under their belts as Town preserved John Askey’s position as boss with a 2-1 win at AFC Wimbledon.
Saturday’s vitally important victory was Arnold’s League One debut for Salop and Amadi-Holloway’s first start in more than a month.
They were both given the nod after impressing in a 3-0 reserves triumph over Walsall last week – in which Amadi-Holloway scored – and when asked if they did themselves justice at Kingsmeadow, assistant chief John Filan said: “Definitely.
“We had a reserve game during the week.
“People got a game and, to a man, everyone’s putting their hand up and saying they want to play.
“Then it’s a choice on who we think is going to fit the bill.
“We said to some of the players that inconsistency provides opportunity – and on Saturday a couple of them took hold of the shirt by putting in great effort.”
Arnold, in for Huddersfield loanee Joel Coleman, made a stunning save at 1-1 – pushing Mitch Pinnock’s free-kick on to the post before Mat Sadler cleared.
“Steve makes a magnificent save and then Sads clears it – and that’s commitment from the players,” said former shot-stopper Filan.
“The players take all the credit. They deserve it after this result and we move on from there.”
The man who particularly rose to the occasion against the Dons was Luke Waterfall.
He headed in an 89th-minute winner after levelling with a volley in the 57th.
The 28-year-old was delighted to come up with the goods for Askey, who signed the defender on a three-year deal from Lincoln in the summer just prior to Toto Nsiala’s departure for Ipswich.
On the centre-half’s contribution, Filan added: “Part of being a centre-half is getting a couple of goals in the season, adding to the tally.
“I think with all of our defenders, they expect to, and we expect them to, contribute with a goal or two.
“Luckily, Luke got his reward for his efforts in past games as well where it hasn’t quite fallen for him.
“We’re happy we got the goals and got the win.”
