'I've got to stay positive' - Salop boss Appleton

1 week ago 2

Shrewsbury Town boss Michael Appleton said he has "got to stay positive" and "somehow motivate" his players to keep believing they can avoid relegation from League Two.

Town were beaten 3-0 on New Year's Day by Bristol Rovers, who leapfrogged them in the table, leaving Salop just two points above the bottom two and nursing a run of four straight defeats.

Shrewsbury have not won since beating then-bottom club Newport County on 15 November - nine games ago.

Appleton, who signed a two-year contract towards the end of last season after overseeing the final nine games of Town's relegation from League One, said he has felt the heat of the club's difficult campaign almost from the start.

"I felt under pressure from about three games in, so that hasn't changed," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"The reality is we're in a position that we don't want to be in, so is the pressure intensified? Probably and rightly so.

"I completely understand it. But it's football and it's the world we live in.

"I've got to stay positive and somehow motivate them to challenge themselves every single day and try to look forward to some of the games we've got coming up."

Asked where he believes he can still turn results around and keep Town up, Appleton said: "I do, but it doesn't matter what I think does it?"

"I was certainly hoping to be much higher [in the table] but there are so many factors at play - formations, style, budgets - but people can make their own minds up, I can only affect what I can control.

"As long as I'm preparing right I can look myself in the mirror knowing that at least I've given myself and everyone at the club the chance to do something positive.

"If the opinion is very different, then so be it."

Shrewsbury go to automatic-promotion chasing Salford City in their next match on Sunday (15:00 GMT).

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