Shrewsbury's Chey Dunkley earns plaudits for defensive impact

Dunkley has played every minute of Salop’s League One campaign – alongside his captain Luke Leahy, who is the only other squad member to do so.

The 30-year-old, who signed during the summer, has been excellent, playing predominantly at the heart of the back three.

And Bennett is full of praise for the Wolverhampton-born centre-back and the impact he is having at the back, praising the defender’s prowess in the air.

He said: “He is incredible with his head.

“I don’t know how he does it to be honest, but he likes heading it more than he likes kicking it.

“When teams kick balls up to Chey he is just there, you ask any striker in this league who do you not want to play against a lot of them would say big Chey.

“You will have to ask him, but he really enjoys heading it.

“And you know it is great for the team that he is in the right position, and he gets his head to everything for us.”

Town put in another stubborn and resolute defensive display last weekend when they drew 1-1 at Portsmouth.

And despite the hosts having more than 70 per cent possession, they rarely looked like scoring.

But the wing-back, who got his first goal of the season at the weekend, said it is a complete ‘team effort’ to defend the way they do, and he also praises midfield duo Leahy and Carl Winchester for the work they get through.

“Also, Penno (Mathew Pennington) and Tom Flanagan, our back three is really aggressive, and it is just what we need,” Bennett continued.

“They have all been magnificent in front of Marko.

“They give us a great platform to play from.

“It is a real team effort.

“Luke Leahy and Winny (Carl Winchester), I do not know how they keep doing what they are doing, but that is what the manager demands.

“That is what we know we have got to do. With the squad of players we have got, then we have to go to those levels every single week.

“If we do that, we will get more good results than we don’t.”