That's as good as we've been - Appleton

That's as good as we've been - Appleton

Shrewsbury Town boss Michael Appleton has challenged his side to repeat the standards set in holding League Two leaders Walsall on Saturday.

Appleton felt his side raised the bar as they came from behind to earn a point thanks to Tom Anderson's second-half strike.

The third successive league draw extended the Shrews' unbeaten run to four matches.

"I thought for about 25 minutes in the second half that's as good as we've been for a long time - I really enjoyed watching us," Appleton told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"It was more like what I want to see and hopefully in the coming weeks and months we'll get to that point.

"But I thought the spirit and quality they showed to get back into the game, it was brilliant.

"The only frustration I've got is we haven't got three points but we're coming up against a very, very resilient, organised, structured side who know how to win games."

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Anderson became the 13th player to score this season for Shrewsbury in the league but the side have netted just 20 times overall in the league, with George Lloyd their leading scorer on three goals.

"With the greatest respect, the players we have all have different types of attributes but we haven't got what you would call an out-and-out goalscorer," Appleton said.

"I think that's fair to say and not rude to anybody, so we're going to have to share the goals around."

Despite just two defeats in their past 10 league outings, Town remain only two points above the relegation places, in 20th, with four wins from 20 matches.

But an "encouraged" Appleton believes more victories will come if Saturday's template is followed.

"The reality is, from an attitude point of view and from an application point of view, I can't ask for any more," he added.

"I can only ask for the spirit to be right and the application and then it's down to the players to show a little bit of quality.

"If we play like we have today, not just second half but first half as well, we'll win more games of football than we'll lose, definitely."

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