Opposition view: Cowan highlights 'big difference' against Cobblers
Shrewsbury manager Gavin Cowan highlighted his side’s ‘dominance in both boxes’ and willingness to do the basics as the ‘big difference’ in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Northampton.
Shrews, who had lost four of their opening five league games, were comfortable and deserving winners at Croud Meadow thanks to first half goals from Kiam McMahon-Brown and Kevin Berkoe.
“I’m really happy,” said Cowan. “The last few weeks have been frustrating. People get emotional around results but the performance today wasn’t too dissimilar to how we’ve been playing.
“We were dominant in both boxes and that was the difference. The early goal gave us confidence and it didn’t surprise me because we knew it coming. We blocked out the noise, we stayed professional and I saw this result coming.
“I felt something happened last week even though we lost the game and that was backed up today. You have to earn the right against a team like Northampton, you can’t just go out and start playing football, you have to stretch them, win your duels and win your battles, and then you earn the right to play and that was the big difference today.
“The team is coming together now. We have a lot of new players and they’re starting to click. My teams notoriously start later because the process takes time so we had to stay calm and the players have been impeccable.”