Steve Cotterill pleased to see Shrewsbury Town defender Tom Flanagan shine
Steve Cotterill is pleased with the way defender Tom Flanagan has bounced back after being omitted from the most recent Northern Ireland squad.
The Salop centre-half was on target against Peterborough on Tuesday night to register his first goal of the season for his club when he finished brilliantly past Will Norris from Chey Dunkley’s knockdown.
And the Shrewsbury Town boss was happy with the performance of one of his senior players, saying it had been a tough week for Flanagan after he was left out of the Northern Ireland squad.
Michael O’Neill’s side are due to take on San Marino and Finland in the Uefa Euro 2024 qualifiers later this month, and the Town boss revealed Flanagan only found out when the squad was announced.
“It was a great finish from Tom – I’m really pleased for him, I thought he was excellent considering he wasn’t called up to the Northern Ireland squad,” he said. “That would have been a disappointment for him.
“I think that came as a surprise to him because he didn’t get a phone call before the squad was announced.
“I think he would have a right to be slightly disappointed about that considering when they played their last game he was one of their best defenders.
“But I don’t pick that squad. In defence of Tom, he didn’t know until it was announced so I think he was a bit disappointed in that.
“But I thought he was excellent at Peterborough, Tom Flanagan.”
Meanwhile, the boss was also pleased with the way his side adapted to their change in shape in their game at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Salop moved away from the system they normally favour – 3-5-2 – instead taking up a 4-3-3 in Cambridgeshire. And his side put in a steady away performance against Posh in a game that looked destined for a draw, but Frankie Kent’s header in the 87th minute was enough for the hosts to secure all three points.
Despite the result, the boss was pleased with the team played.
He said: “I thought it went well. When you think about the performance in the first half, it wasn’t as good as the performance in the second half. But we didn’t change shape. It was nothing to do with that. We worked on it. We know what to do when we are in that shape anyway.
“Earlier in the season, we started games and we were really, really, good at the start. And, all of a sudden, it seems to have flipped the other way a little bit.
“We are disappointed with our start in the game but all-in-all we haven’t deserved to be beaten at Peterborough, that’s for sure.
“We’ll look forward to the return game in a month’s time.”
