Shrewsbury boss Graham Turner spoke to his club's official website ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at the Greenhous Meadow Stadium tomorrow afternoon, Turner first commenting on the latest Town squad news:
“We have lost three players for the game, two players have returned to their clubs after loan spells and one is out through suspension. But, on the plus side we have got John Marsden and Paul Parry back from injury and Jon Taylor returning after his one-match ban. In terms of numbers we would obviously like to add to it but I feel that what we have got going out against Carlisle is good enough as a League One outfit.
“It has been a frustrating week again trying to bring players in, we have been close, one or two players that we have chased for some time, the signs were that they were going to be allowed out but they have been delayed with international call-ups and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy next week seeing different players playing. It is a period that hasn’t gone smoothly with suspensions, injuries and the failure to strengthen the squad.
“I think frustration is an on-going thing from the end of last season, so that doesn’t change. But, it is more about the points that we have dropped from winning positions, the goals that we have conceded late on in games. We have had various meetings with the players, we have discussed it at length, went through everything for what we can do to put that right, including the real determination needed to make sure we don’t concede.
“But, I do believe it is that lack of real belief, which does happen when you lose games and lose the lead in games, it becomes a bit of a mental block and we start to get anxious. We should be passing the ball better and retaining possession of the ball better than we have been, so we will need to be looking at that. But, I don’t think fitness is an issue, it is just an issue of getting over the mental side of things.
“You want that consistency, you want that belief and we have not really had a settled back four due to injuries, but we defend as a team and we attack as a team and it is not solely down to back players or goalkeepers. It doesn’t half relieve the pressure if we get a second goal or pass the ball in the last quarter of an hour like we can, that all leads to that little bit of anxiety and extra pressure at the back.
“We have talked about the need to spread goals around as well, only four players have scored and we need some more from throughout the team. We need more goals now in the two home games which will test our resolve and our mental capacity to deal with it. We have got to take good points from them, so that in itself adds a little bit more pressure and the games are going to be vital for us, but we have to avoid heaping more pressure on the players.
“We have looked at the opening nine games we have had and there have been some big clubs there that have been going very well at the start of the season such as Leyton Orient, Crawley and teams like that. But perhaps for the first time we are coming up against sides that are around us in the table and we have got enough creative players to start scoring more goals than we have done. It is a big period and I think we are equipped to deal with it.”