Steve Cotterill delighted with 'tremendous' Shrewsbury players
Steve Cotterill said his players were 'tremendous' after his Shrewsbury side beat Fleetwood Town in difficult conditions on the Lancashire coast.
Salop won 1-0 at Highbury Stadium in strong winds thanks to Tom Bayliss' well-taken goal on the half-hour mark.
Cotterill's men had chances to add to their lead shortly after going in front when Pyke and Leahy went close.
But the second period saw the hosts come back into the game with the wind and home support behind them, yet they were met by a resolute and stubborn Town that held on for three points.
And the boss was delighted with the result and the performance of his players given the conditions.
"Well done to all of them, they were tremendous today," he said.
"Today, to a man, I thought everyone who was on the field, the subs included, had a big impact.
"The only thing I was slightly disappointed about was we could of put the game to bed by half-time.
"We had some great chances, and it is funny because this happened here last year.
"We have had a couple of good chances in the second half to put it to bed.
"The second half was different. We knew when we were coming here there were going to be strong winds.
"They were terrible conditions the wind was playing havoc."
Fleetwood hit the woodwork twice in the second period through Danny Andrew when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mark Marosi, and his corner hit the bar.
But for all the Cod Army's probing Salop contained them well, which the Town boss was pleased with.
He said: "They went more direct in the second half and played more football in the first.
"But then you have got to be careful where a second ball drops, they have a few good technicians who you don't want it to fall to.
"I don't remember anything clear cut from them.
"Marko hasn't had to pull off a worldie today like he has done in previous games.
"We were under the cosh because of the weather conditions.
"You don't mind playing in the rain, but the one thing you hate is the wind.
"It was so difficult for both sets of players to play out there today and try to control a ball or head it.
"Credit to both sets of players, but thankfully we got three points."
Rob Street came on for Christian Saydee at half-time, and Cotterill revealed after the match he had hurt his foot.
"He got stamped on," he explained when asked what was wrong with Saydee.
"Because it was on the front of his foot, he couldn't start sprinting.
"He ended up playing on till half-time, but I knew then that was going to be the problem time, and it was going to stiffen up.
"I thought Rob Street when he came on was tremendous, like Ryan Bowman was, it was really good stuff from the boys."
