Sam Ricketts: Shrewsbury Town are making strides
Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts believes his side are making ‘big strides’ under his guidance.
Ricketts, who has overseen 20 games in his three-month tenure, has led his Montgomery Waters Meadow charges on a five-match unbeaten run, lifting them from 23rd to 17th in League One.
Shrews were without a league win in 10 games after an inconsistent start to Ricketts’ Football League management career.
After completing a mid-season rebuild of his Town squad in January, the Salop chief believes time on the training field is beginning to bear fruit.
“We’ve taken some really big strides in the right direction in the last couple of weeks,” said Ricketts, whose side are preparing for crunch trips to drop zone rivals Rochdale and Plymouth. “There’s a long way to go but we’re taking big strides.
“The pleasing thing is, with training time, when you can see it in the performance.”
Ricketts is coaching his players to move the ball from one side of the pitch to the other to stretch the opposition.
The Town chief rewarded returning midfielder Dave Edwards, 33, with a first Shrewsbury start since May 2007 in Saturday’s goalless draw with Wimbledon. The boss felt the Welshman showed glimpses of his ability.
“He’s worked really hard in training for the last couple of weeks,” he added.
“But I think you start to see glimpses of what he’ll bring to the side – game knowledge, leadership, organisation, combined with ability as well.”
Fellow midfielder Romain Vincelot is making good progress on the knee injury he picked up in the FA Cup at Wolves.
The January signing, also 33, is ahead of schedule on his return to fitness and has began light training at Sundorne.
Goalkeeper Steve Arnold is being assessed for the arm injury he sustained against Wimbledon. He injured making a brave late save and was replaced by loanee Jonathan Mitchell, making his first appearance since joining from Derby.
