Former favourite Toney concedes Cobblers were worthy winners

Former Cobbler Ivan Toney was disappointed not to get one over his former club on Saturday but admitted his Shrewsbury side were deservedly beaten.
Ivan Toney is up to five goals for the seasonIvan Toney is up to five goals for the season
Ivan Toney is up to five goals for the season

Toney, who became the youngest player to represent Northampton in 2012, bagged a brace, both penalties, when his old club came to Greenhous Meadow for Saturday’s Sky Bet League One clash.

But that wasn’t enough to prevent another defeat for manager-less Shrewsbury as Paul Anderson’s double on top of goals from Sam Hoskins and Gabriel Zakuani sent the spoils Northampton’s way.

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Toney, who admitted he was desperate to beat his former club, said afterwards: “I was firing all the boys up before the match because I really wanted to win the game but the best team won on the day.

“They did the basic things well and they managed to win 4-2.

“Obviously it’s disappointing but we’ve just got to stay together and keep going and a result will come our way.

“I reckon we defended and attacked well as a unit but the first goal went in and our heads went down a bit.

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“We should have picked ourselves up and kept going but I don’t think the lads did that as well as we’re capable of and it just went on from there.

“It’s hard to get out of that mindset but we’re all professional footballers and we’ve got to take it upon ourselves to get out of this mess.

“We had them on the ropes at one point but the half-time whistle came at a good time for them – we should have come out the traps in the second-half firing but we didn’t.”

On his two goals, which take his tally to five for the season, the 20-year-old added: “It doesn’t mean anything if you lose but on a personal note it’s nice to score against to score my old team.

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“I’m trying to improve as a player and do what I can to get the team back to winning ways.”

Toney, who helped Barnsley win promotion from League One last season, has now called on his fellow team-mates to stick together if they want to turnaround their dreadful run of form which has seen them go nine games without a win.

He said: “There’s more than enough in our team to get us up the table. I’m sure we’ll get a few wins under our belt.

“Barnsley were bottom at Christmas last season and got promoted so who’s to say Shrewsbury can’t do that? We’ve just got to keep grafting, work hard and stick together.

“We’ll keep battling hard and keep putting in performances.

“It’s not done until it’s done. No one likes to be bottom and no one likes to be losing, especially the fans, but we’ve got to repay them and keep trying.”