Sam Ricketts: Shrewsbury Town defeat a 'bitter pill to swallow'
Sam Ricketts praised his Shrewsbury players for a show of character but rued a lack of composure after late heartbreak.
Town fought their way back into the game after a poor start at Home Park where former striker Freddie Ladapo gave their relegation rivals an early lead.
Shrews showed a mark improvement after the break and scored a deserved equaliser as skipper Ollie Norburn tucked home the rebound after his penalty was saved just shy of the hour.
Salop, who remain 20th - now just goal difference outside the bottom four - were the better side at 1-1 and looked most likely to snatch a winner but Anthony Grant conceded a late spot-kick and Graham Carey did the honours from 12 yards.
"It's a bitter pill to swallow, the late penalty," said a disappointed Ricketts.
"We didn't start the game well, we were one-nil down and then showed the character to finish the first half (well) and turn the game on its head.
"We played some really good football at times, got into really good situations, got one goal and needed to be more clinical.
"We had really good opportunities to get the second and go on to win.
"The final pass, action, shot or cross, we weren't clinical enough.
"That leaves yourselves open for one break at the other end, and conceded a foul in the final minutes."
Ricketts had no complaints about the 'clumsy' late foul from returning midfielder Grant.
But he maintains his side played some impressive football in the second period - he feels Salop have played worse and taken points from matches this term.
"It looked like a penalty, it looked a clumsy challenge, in all fairness. Could we deal with the first ball better? Probably," the boss added.
"We just had to be more clinical and take our chances to get the second goal. Some of the play was very, very good, there wasn't as much control as I'd like - but some of our play was really good.
"The desire and effort to turn it on its head was excellent but I'm just gutted for them they didn't get something out the game."
Town will train on Wednesday this week, instead of their usual day off, after the late drive back from Plymouth and prepare for a huge home game against Wycombe on Saturday.
