Michael Duff: Cheltenham were second best to Shrewsbury against 11 men
Michael Duff admitted his Cheltenham Town side were very much second best to Shrewsbury Town when both teams had 11 men on the field.
Visitors Shrewsbury enjoyed a strong start at Jonny-Rocks Stadium, where Daniel Udoh fired Steve Cotterill's men into a deserved fourth-minute lead amid a spell of 20 minutes dominated by the away side.
But the contest swung on Elliott Bennett's red card for handball on the goalline from Dan Crowley's shot after 23 minutes. Conor Thomas converted the penalty and Shrewsbury were unable to reproduce the same attacking display as Kyle Joseph emerged from the bench to tap in a winner with 25 minutes left.
Duff, who is Cotterill's three-time promotion-winning Robins defender, admitted his side were completely outplayed for 20 minutes.
He said: "They started better than us and probably deservedly went 1-0 up, it was a terrible goal that we conceded.
"Twenty-five minutes we have a phase of play, probably the first time we actually passed the ball and obviously the red card changes the game. It's the right decision, I don't think there's any controversy with that.
"Then we've shown patience and calmness to turn the game around. It's difficult, 1-0 up and down to 10 men, they've got a lot to fight for, so I was happy at how we've broken them down in the end.
"They were unlucky – I don't know whether it's luck or not – with the red card. It isn't unlucky because he's handballed it, but it definitely changed the complexion of the game.
"And with Steve I hope they go on and do really well now and I'm sure he probably says the same thing about us. After a difficult start they've definitely picked up."
Duff, who in his first management job has guided the Robins to an impressive 11th in League One, feels his old boss Cotterill and Shrewsbury will be able to climb away from 21st and the drop zone if they continue recent form and are able to play as they did in the opening 20 minutes.
He added: "If they play like they did for the first 20 minutes then they'll be fine.
"I think the results in the last three or four weeks probably tell you that (they can climb the table), and the performance in the first 20 minutes, they'll take positives from that.
"Because 11 v 11 they were better than us, there's no doubt about that."
