Dave Edwards: Shrewsbury discover top form to move into play-off picture
It was a terrific win for Town at Fleetwood – and they really seem to be finding their groove at the moment.
Steve Cotterill’s team are playing full of confidence, and it is a team that knows what they are doing. They know what their game plan is and they are all on the same wavelength.
There is a strategy to every game and the relationship between the players has been building to this point where the pressure has completely off them.
They have points on the board and wins under their belt – it feels like they go in knowing the way they are going to play and with confidence.
Players are playing with freedom, and in the way the manager wants them to play, it is just a really exciting time for Town.
Winning away games 1-0 does not get much better. They made sure they have been defensively solid and then they had the chances to go on the attack and win games.
It has been a terrific run of games recently, the results have backed it up, and the confidence must be brimming inside that squad.
They are in a position now where they can really make a push.
When Tom Bayliss came into the club, I knew he was a talented footballer, but the way Shrewsbury had played last year – where the manager had his hands tied a little bit to avoid them getting dragged into a relegation scrap – I was not sure if he would fit into the way this Town team were going to play.
Obviously, the manager has had the foresight of what Salop needed to go to the next level and Tom Bayliss has been a big part of that jigsaw.
It has taken Town from a very solid team, who were well organised and would stay in games to a team who can transition quickly by using his link-up play, his passing ability or his running with the ball.
He has not been the only one to do this. Christian Saydee can turn that defence into an attack very quickly too.
They are different players, but it has given Town a platform and it allows them to play their football.
They get into dangerous areas down the sides of teams, cutting balls back, and when it does drop to someone like Bayliss in the box, he has the quality to score the goals.
What a terrific finish it was from him at the weekend. You fancy that every time he is in a shooting position at the moment.
He has been one of the main difference-makers in this Town team this season.
Since moving to left-wing-back, Jordan Shipley has done well. There was a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he first signed and he had a bit of a slow start.
Town fans were really expecting him to be a player who would score and assist and be at the heart of everything Shrewsbury does.
With his athleticism and his work-rate, this role has really suited him. He nearly got in on the act with an absolute wonder-goal when you look at the passing in the build-up. Taylor Moore has been good the last couple of games too – he gives Town something different in defence, he can make that pass as he did on that attack for Shipley’s effort.
Three key signings for Steve Cotterill in the summer are really getting up to speed for Shrewsbury and there is a really good core group of players.
It gives them a terrific platform to kick on.
The way they have done it and how quickly they have done it is miraculous.
For them to be in the top half on the edge of the play-offs with their budget is amazing.
