Tuesday 15 January 2019 23:28, UK
Buoyant Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts saluted his battling side as they sprung a fine FA Cup shock by beating Stoke City 3-2.
Goals from James Bolton, Fejiri Okenabirhie and Josh Laurent completed a stunning comeback victory for the League One side after the Championship hosts squandered a comfortable 2-0 half-time lead.
"I'm extremely proud of the players," said Ricketts. "That’s probably the biggest comeback win of my career. On a personal note that’s definitely up there.
"At half-time everyone thought the game was over, to be honest, but that probably played into our hands a little bit.
"The first goal was special, it gave us more belief and got us back in the game. We got a foothold in the game and had a bit more belief in ourselves."
Ricketts, whose side will now face Wolves in the fourth round, added: "It's a great game against Wolves in the next round. It's a local derby, it will be a sellout and good financially for us. That's the beauty of the FA Cup. We are little Shrewsbury and an FA Cup run does help us."
New Stoke boss Nathan Jones was furious his side threw away their lead and denied him his first win in charge of the Potters.
"Defensive frailties cost us," admitted Jones. "To go from cruising to losing in the space of 10 minutes is not a good thing. Not quite worrying, but rubber-stamping what I already know.
"I'm shocked how we've lost that game. It was a real shift in momentum. For 69 minutes I thought we were pretty dominant, we were excellent and controlled the game.
"I think you saw a real structure to us and a good starting point, but sometimes you need to get through that mental barrier. It's hard when you've been losing a lot, but we'll get there."
Jones, who made eight changes, added: "There's a lot of hard work to do, so new personnel could be an option.
"Unfortunately we ran out of steam at the end. We want a hard-working, high-pressing group, but we're not there yet physically and tactically."
