Conor Shaugnessy says the side will the take the positives from Saturday’s performance against Sunderland into Tuesday night’s League One fixture against Shrewsbury Town at the Crown Oil Arena…
Speaking after the game, he commented: “It was a tough day for us but I thought the performance wasn’t too bad. Looking back at it and we created quite a few chances and we had quite a lot of the ball. We have to take the positives from a day like today.
"Coming to a place like this against a team that’s up there and having a lot of the ball and creating those chances, we really have to take the positives into the next game. It’s a quick turnaround [between now and Tuesday] and we have to get ourselves physically and mentally right, and prepare for Tuesday.”
And the 24-year-old says the focus quickly turned to the midweek game against the Shrews after the match.
“You can’t get too high or too low in this league. With the quick turnaround, the games are coming thick and fast, and our focus now is on Tuesday. It’ll be another tough game - every game is a tough game. Every game is massive now and important, and I know in the dressing room after the game that the lads are ready to give everything now going forward. It’s a really good group of lads, good attitude and good coaching staff, and we’re going to have the right mentality going into every game.
“We’ve got dust ourselves down and pull each other through it now. Now is not the time to let the heads drop and be negative. Now is the time to pick ourselves up and do more. I’ve only been here for five or six weeks and I can see the quality in the dressing room and the hard work that the lads are putting in everyday, and I know that we’ve got enough to do the job.”
Shaughnessy has made seven appearances for Dale since joining the club from Leeds United on the final day of the January transfer window. He was available to play on Saturday, having had the red card he received against Hull City rescinded.
“I think 99% of the people who were at the game would tell you it was a good challenge. We thought it might be difficult to get it overturned but I’m glad it has come through and it has allowed me to keep playing in these next few games which are important for us.
“[My time at the club] has been brilliant. I had a tough few months before this when I wasn’t playing games, so having played seven games in the last month or so is fantastic for me. The group, everyone, the players, staff, have all been fantastic. It has been a really good experience so far.”
Watch Conor’s interview in full on iFollow Dale.