Steve Cotterill: All of Shrewsbury Town should feel proud after Charlton win

Daniel Udoh was the last-gasp goal hero in front of a rampant Montgomery Waters Meadow crowd as he showed ice-cool composure in freezing Storm Arwen conditions to inflict a first league defeat on the in-form Addicks under the interim stewardship of Johnnie Jackson.

For Udoh it was a third goal in three games this week and for Town and Cotterill – who celebrated a year in charge on the day – it was the perfect way to build on an impressive point with 10 men against Sunderland in midweek.

Threadbare Town, who lost another body to injury as makeshift right wing-back Rekeil Pyke limped off with a hamstring problem, recorded just a second clean sheet in 25 games this season to deservedly hold off the visitors.

An exciting, watchable contest went the way of the home side as three points lifted Shrewsbury out of the League One drop zone and up two places to 19th. Cotterill felt, with the unavailability issues his side are faced with at the moment, it is a time for everybody to feel pride.

He said: "I said the other one the other day was probably the biggest result since I've been here, I'm not sure whether this one eclipses it.

"It's just been an incredibly difficult week. I think everybody connected with the football club needs to be incredible proud of themselves.

"From our supporters, away at Cheltenham, to Sunderland and again today, if I was to encapsulate a week of how our supporters have been, I think this week they've been at their best.

"I think the players have given them an opportunity to be at their best."

Cotterill claimed midfielder Josh Vela was his side's star man. Vela gave a long-busting display in the heart of midfield and impressed alongside defender George Nurse and most, if not all home players in blue and yellow.

He added: "For Dan Udoh to score three in three, I'm delighted for him. I thought by far and away our best player today was Josh Vela, he was absolutely outstanding today in everything he did, every race he won, every tackle he won, header he won, that's without some other passes where we potentially could've scored in the first 15 minutes when we started really brightly.

"I was just wondering at what stage we might go a little bit leggy. I don't think a sharpness was in our game that's been in the other two - even though we went down to 10 (in those) - but the stamina and strength was in their legs and the air was in their lungs, which is what we tried to put into them in pre-season.

"The work from pre-season, only now will the lads understand the benefit of what they were doing in pre-season.

"The spirit was there for all to see, everybody tonight connected to Shrewsbury Town will go home with a really nice feeling in their stomachs."

Town will wait on news of Pyke's hamstring injury while they will also be without David Davis for a further three games after the midfield anchorman's ban was not successfully rescinded upon appeal. Davis was hit with a four-match ban for a second dismissal of the season.

Cotterill said he was 'majorly disappointed but not surprised' that Town's appeal against the suspension was unsuccessful.

Leicester loanee Khanya Leshabela played an hour, his first league football since making his Town debut more than three months ago, with threadbare Town 'more than down to the bare bones', according to the manager.

Fellow loan man Sam Cosgrove, who has also played desperately little football with Shrewsbury, also played a starring role. He featured for more than 20 minutes and crucially, following a long Nurse throw-in that went uncleared, nodded down for Udoh to bury his late winner across Craig MacGillivray's goal, despite a touch from the former Town man's fingertips.

"Let's hope it keeps happening!" Cotterill said of Udoh's streak. "Interestingly, though, it was a really key header from Sam Cosgrove, if he doesn't jump and get the touch, Dan doesn't get the finish.

"I know he (Cosgrove) has had a tough time in the start he's had here but I'm pleased for him as well, that he made a decent contribution.

"And Lesh came on early in the game when we needed to make a change.

"The players are just a credit to themselves, their families, me, just a great set of lads and hopefully this little bit of form we're in, to keep winning at home, I love winning at home - mind you I wouldn't mind winning away!

"It's brilliant to do that in front of your home supporters, brilliant for the lads, a huge confidence booster and now we've got a clear week before a tricky cup tie."

Cotterill added of Leshabela: "It ended up being an hour or so, it's always difficult when you come on as a sub and it's always difficult when he hasn't had many minutes.

"I thought he did OK today, I wouldn't go overboard, but I thought he did OK when he came on today."

The manager said of a rare shutout for his side: "Any clean sheet is welcome, but what's more important is a clean sheet with what we had available, that's more important, and then an injury to disrupt that as well.

"They know what to do, wherever the ball is, we worked a lot on our shape. That's why it was disappointing when we conceded goals earlier in the season, when we work so much on our shape.

"There will be mistakes, but we didn't make any today thankfully.

"I wasn't so worried about the start. For 33 minutes we were OK and then we went a little bit wobbly, they had possession at one stage for nigh-on five minutes without us getting a foot on it.

"We got a tackle but it went back to them, that five minutes in the first half, where we weren't in the game and couldn't get it back, our organisation, strength and legs got us through that.

"I said to the boys at half-time that five minutes today will win us the game, I didn't know that but that's what I felt."