Shrewsbury must keep being brave - head coach Cowan

Gavin Cowan looks on from the touchline during a Shrewsbury TownGetty Images

Gavin Cowan has won six, lost four and drawn one of his 11 games in charge of Shrewsbury Town

Dan WheelerBBC Sport, West Midlands and Mary-Kate WheeldonBBC Radio Shropshire

Shrewsbury Town head coach Gavin Cowan says he wants his side to "keep being brave" and work on improving their "football IQ" over the course of the rest of the League Two season.

Cowan has steered Salop 11 points clear of the relegation zone, having arrived in late January with the club only two points above the bottom two.

But since a run of five straight wins - a sequence that earned the former Brackley boss the League Two manager of the month award for February - Town have suffered three defeats in their last four games.

Despite that stutter, Cowan is not too worried about their form going into the remaining eight games of the campaign.

"I think it's important not to get too emotional about results," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I understand people don't see it day-to-day but the players have come in and responded well and they understand they have to get back to work into our process.

"As staff we need to be better, we need to be even more diligent, we have to prepare and be the best version of ourselves so that's been the focus the last couple of days."

In his final full season in charge of Brackley in 2024-25, Cowan guided the club to promotion into the National League and he said making the step up to the EFL has emphasised the importance of good football 'intelligence'.

"Making the move from the National League as a manager into this league, it's making sure that the players have got a level of football IQ," he said.

"I'd say that the level of IQ here is better, but needs to be even better.

"The way we structure it around numbers and patterns, we make sure that the players are really hard to beat with the ball. It's important that the players are brave enough to carry it out.

"They're going to make mistakes. It's not about being perfect, it's about not being kamikaze or circus-like and if you're going to make a mistake, it's got to be in the right area."

Cowan added: "It's just asking the players to carry out what we've been doing and knowing that it's not all going to move in straight lines, but if you keep working hard, keep being brave, keep being courageous and have that football IQ in that moment.

"When we're safe it's going to be through nothing short of hard work and desire and making sure that the players are at full capacity."

Shrewsbury take on play-off hopefuls Crewe Alexandra on Saturday [15:00 GMT].