Matt Taylor has one word to describe Shrewsbury performance
Matt Taylor has described his Shrewsbury Town side's defeat against Cheltenham as 'unacceptable'.
Town came into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats after losing to league leaders Portsmouth and second-placed Peterborough.
But their 2-0 defeat to Cheltenham was by far the most disappointing of the three, as Taylor's side failed to register a shot on target from their 16 shots.
The Robins were bottom of the league before a ball was kicked on Boxing Day, and Town losing to Darrell Clarke's side is a real hammer blow.
“It’s a tough day because we didn’t see anything from Cheltenham today that we weren’t prepared for," Taylor said.
“To concede two set-plays in the way we did is unacceptable.
“The game that we didn’t win today was that – the set-play game.
“We had 16 shots and didn’t hit the target once.
“It’s unacceptable in terms of a result. What you can’t do when you come to a place like this is give the opposition the set-plays."
George Lloyd, who had not scored for the Robins this season before the game, bagged a brace.
Once in the first half, as he lost Elliott Bennett from a free-kick which was conceded by Joe Anderson, he nodded the ball across Marko Marosi and into the far corner.
He then added a second five minutes from time, again from a set play, after Tom Bradbury had headered the ball back across goal from the deep corner.
Despite seeing more of the ball than they have in recent weeks, Shrews were well off the pace, and Cheltenham, who moved off the bottom of the League One table with victory, and the Town boss bemoaned errors made by his side.
“You always know it is going to be difficult when you make those errors and that is what has happened today," he continued.
“We changed shape because we needed to and it got us some momentum in the second half for a 10-minute period.
“We have had another bad day in terms of injuries. Taylor Perry has picked up one. Dan Udoh has picked up an injury so it looks like the group might get even smaller.
“The way that we defended those set-plays – with the group that I have got – to give them two free headers in our box is nowhere near good enough for the players we have got at the football club.”
Town have a huge couple of games coming up heading into the New Year.
They travel to Burton Albion on Friday evening, who are still managerless, before they then welcome Fleetwood Town on New Year's Day.
The defeat makes Town the division's joint-lowest scorers and they need to put that right.
It has been a battle for Taylor's side all season with them only registering 14 League One goals in their 24 games.
