Blues manager Paul Hurst admitted it was hard to take Town’s 1-0 defeat away against Rotherham, where he spent nearly all his playing career, believing that his side’s performance ought to have been good enough to claim all three points.

Asked whether he is sick of the sight of Rotherham, who beat his Shrewsbury team in the League One play-off final in May, he said: “No, I’ll never be sick of the sight of Rotherham, the time spent here was obviously very good and I generally wish them well when I’m not up against them.

“But yes, the last three is it now we’ve come out on the wrong side of the result? And it feels hard to take today.”

Was he left scratching his head how Town didn’t manage to win the match? “Well, we didn’t score a goal, that’s the reason why we didn’t and you’re feeling disappointed, or potentially with the way it was going, that you didn’t win the game, and then to actually lose it, it is hard to take.

“I’m probably not the best person to assess our performance overall because I’m disappointed at this moment in time with the result and we all know that’s what the business is, it’s results as much as it’s nice to get performances, but you want them to go hand in hand.

“Look, I’m sure there are some positives to take but at this moment in time it’s probably difficult to see them.”

Regarding the penalty claim late on, he added: “In total honesty I didn’t quite see the incident entirely. What I did feel at the time was that Jordan Roberts had got inside Joe Mattock but I’m not sure whether the player was looking for the penalty, whether there was enough contact to make him go down.

“I think the position he was in, if I do watch it back he’ll be getting a mouthful if he did go down too easily because he was in with a chance of scoring a goal. I will look back at them but at the end of the day they don’t mean anything.

“We could have had a freekick in the build-up to the goal, I think Jordan Roberts got blocked off.

“The ball goes down the side and I think Toto actually gets the ball first [in the incident for the freekick which led to the goal]. I can live with it in that I can understand what the referee’s thinking, but I do think he got the ball first rather than the man.

“And then we don’t actually defend it that badly but it just drops down and it’s a good finish from Smith which cost us the game.”

Given that his side enjoyed the lion’s share of the game's possession, did he feel they ought to have created more chances?

“I think we’ve had enough chances overall,” he reflected. “Can you create more? Yes, of course, I think you’ll be lucky if you come away thinking that you couldn’t have done any more. But I still think we’ve had enough realistically.

“Even if it was just that little pass. Straight away, Gwion Edwards’s pass to Ellis in the first half comes to mind. He’s done great and then it’s just slightly overhit. That should be a chance, whether it’s a goal, the keeper might save it, but it should be a definite chance and wasn’t.

“We’ve got to make sure we have got a cutting edge to us otherwise the good work before that counts for nothing.”

Hurst was pleased with his new signings, particularly Jon Nolan: “I wanted to bring Jon in to the football club as soon as I joined. It took longer than I would have hoped but he’s got quality, I never doubt that.

“I was amazed that other clubs weren’t in for him, I don’t know what they’ve been watching, I question people’s scouting networks.

“He looked very at home. What I would say, and I don’t mean this disrespectfully, for him and Toto, they came up against a team they played against three times last season, they’ve played here, so in some ways it wasn’t the most daunting fixture for them.

“I think Warney would say it and I’ll say it about us and them, there’ll be stiffer tests, we know that but he can be pleased, they’ve only trained for a couple of days.

“And the team overall, this is what I’ve been trying to stress from the start, you want your players with you as early as possible to work on it.

"And probably in Blackburn and Rotherham we’ve come up against two teams that in general might be upset they haven’t been able to bring as many additions in, but what we’ve come up against is teams that have been very settled and certainly know each other.

“We’re still learning. But I have to say that performance should have been good enough for us to have left with three points.”

Rotherham manager Paul Warne, who played alongside Hurst during their playing days with the Millers, felt his team improved after the break.

“To call it a tough game is polite, the lads rode the first half, we were better second half,” he said. “To get a win any way which way, I’ll take it.

“People would expect us to make wholesale changes [following last week's 5-1 thrashing at Brentford], I don’t manage like that, you’ve got to trust people and they have earned the trust.

“We asked the lads to go out and play to keep the shirt and after last week deserved a crack. I am really pleased with the response.

“In the first half we were outplayed and struggled and we played the shape in the second half and put Kyle Vassell out wide on the left and I always think there is a chance we are going to score. It was very pleasing to score that late goal.”

Photo: TWTD

smurfsareblue added 12:55 - Aug 12 OK well perhaps i should have read the post about players going on loan Lol. Nydam is an enigma. Looks a hood prospect just dont see as much in him as I do Downes and Dozell. Only my opinion but glad to hear Downes would have travelled if was not ill. OK ill accept Dozell still needs to get his fitness up and if that means a 6 month loan for the good of the lad and the club I will accept that. No supporter sees the day to day training or knows the fitness levels of each player. Shame as i was very excited and am impatient. Got to trust the club fitness guys and the manager but glad he has be honest about situation.

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inghamspur added 16:52 - Aug 12 Very early days yet. Don't panic Mr Mainwairing. Have said before, see where we are after 10 games.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:02 - Aug 12 after this start ,and with the games that are now coming up, after 10 games i'll be surprised if we are not bottom, not a good prospect, but i fear that could be the case, Im not expecting more than survival this season, but achieving that is not going to be easy.
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itfc94 added 22:50 - Aug 12 PH gone all through his career as an underdog... Proved the doubters wrong. We lost, yes. But plenty of positives. There will be times we steal a win, it's a long long season. Still agree that it's time to stand up and be counted though. Someone's point about fitness is pivotal for me. Once gelled and fully fit, I think PH builds his team to be relentless. I want us to be written off by the bookies, and I even more so want us to prove every single doubter saying we will get relegated wrong. Come on town, I'm behind you!

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BonchosBicycle added 01:03 - Aug 13 We were clearly the better team - almost daylight robbery. We'll play worse and win this season. We were slightly the better team last week too. Our football's starting to look a lot more positive and I think we've been a little unlucky so far. We do need to finish a lot better. And if we're going to win a dozen corners, lets do something more imaginative with them than float them gently into the box. Our ability to gift late goals is unchanged and we need to shore up the defence but none of this is news. Everyone knows these things and I'm sure they're being worked on. I don't see any need for alarm yet.

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Barty added 08:12 - Aug 13 Very early days but a massively disappointing start against two teams who were in League one last season. Very disappointed that we did not get a proven goal scorer at this level. Some difficult games coming up so lets hope things improve - I am sure it will given time for the new players to blood in.
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tractorrollson added 09:35 - Aug 13 Watched the highlights, its nice we can now play good football and have the players to do that but we certainly need the winning mentality soon. We should of won Saturday and I know it will be a long season but Im hoping Hurst will be the manager most wanted, only time will tell.
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