Shrewsbury stand-in boss delighted to secure his side's League One status after victory over Blackpool

Matt Pennington’s second-half header for Shrewsbury Town made it back-to-back defeats for the Seasiders, who were also beaten by the same scoreline at Rochdale in midweek.

That loss at Spotland ended Pool’s 16-game unbeaten run, while this defeat brought about their first defeat at Bloomfield Road in over six months - a streak that stretched back 18 games in all competitions.

Pool were well below-par once again and struggled to break down a side that were happy to sit back and frustrate, something the Seasiders have often performed poorly against this season.

Despite the setback, Critchley’s side remain in the League One play-offs, although they drop down to sixth with their buffer being wiped out ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Sunderland.

Portsmouth, who sit in seventh, are now level on points with Blackpool, whose goal difference is superior by three.

Wilbraham, who is in charge of the Shrews in the absence of manager Steve Cotterill, told the Shropshire Star: "To come and secure our status at a ground like this against a team like Blackpool who have been flying is a massive achievement, and to do the double with two clean sheets against a really good attacking side shows how far the lads have come.

"I thought the lads were excellent today over the course of 90 minutes. Over the last few games we've said we'd done it for one half and not the other.

"It was Doncaster first half where we didn't keep it up and it was the opposite the other night (Wigan). But everyone was disciplined for 90 minutes, it was a great team win and the manager touched on that at the end as well.

"They've got really dangerous players, we focused on that in the week and we knew we had to have a game plan, and everyone stuck to it, all the subs that came on, all the detail that they took on board.

"From one to 11, plus the subs, everyone was really committed for each other, backing each other up, which is when we're at our best."

On Pennington's headed goal, Wilbraham added: "It's funny, we practised about 10 of those (corners) yesterday and Harry Chapman kind of pee-rolled every one of them! He said he'd be alright at them tomorrow.

"He struck it right on the money, Penno makes that run really well. He's probably not the biggest centre-half you'll ever see but he's really aggressive in how he climbs for the ball.

"He was unlucky the other night with one cleared off the line but it was a great header."

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