Bernard McNally: Bradford blow will be difficult for Shrewsbury to overcome

They did all the hard work to pull level in stoppage time, only to then let the hosts score the winner with pretty much the last kick of the game.

And it was just so disappointing to see them let it slip so late on.

I am sure the players will be kicking themselves as those are the sorts of games you have got to be taking something from.

At 3-3 it should have been done job done – take the point, look at the positives, and move on to the next one.

But now Town have been dealt a huge blow which will be difficult to recover from, but they have got to as League One is relentless and there is another very tough test coming up on Saturday in Luton – a team flying high at the top of the table.

This period is all about sticking together and what happened at Valley Parade certainly does not change my opinion on Sam Ricketts.

I still think he was the right appointment for Shrewsbury and that there is enough there to stay up, although they are 19th and only out of the drop zone on goal difference.

They have got to be doing a lot of defensive work on the training ground, though, as conceding late goals is becoming a bit of a bad habit for Salop.

On Saturday against Wolves, the situation was a bit different. A Premier League team coming back from 2-0 down to draw was not all that surprising, especially considering they brought on Raul Jimenez – a top-class striker – who started the fightback with his strike.

But shipping in four goals against a team around you in the table would have got the alarm bells ringing for Sam, particularly with him being a former defender.

They will be looking at the video analysis over and over, then making sure they are doing their jobs in the future.

Sam will be telling the players where they need to be when holding on to a lead or for a point – trying to make sure they do not switch off, even for a split second. The obvious positive of Tuesday night’s events was Fejiri Okenabirhie’s treble.

Having gone over a month without scoring in the league, he truly returned to his best in front of goal and that will be a huge confidence boost for him.

But in the same breath, he will be massively disappointed with the loss because he has done all he can for the team. But it was not even enough for a point.

Personally, it was a great night for Fejiri, one which hopefully he can build on over the next few weeks.

But he’ll be hoping for his team-mates to reach similar standards.