Salford City boss Peter Cklamovski called his side’s 1-0 defeat at Shrewsbury “criminal” as they failed to capitalise on key chances when the game was goalless.
The Australian coach, who took charge of the club over the summer following the sacking of former boss Karl Robinson, was visibly frustrated as Salford’s sorry start to the new League Two season.
After losses to Barnet and Chesterfield, a trip to Shropshire to face winless Shrewsbury Town appeared the perfect chance to get off the mark.
But Shrewsbury captain Will Boyle scored the only goal as Salop picked up their first points of the season and condemned the Ammies to another underwhelming defeat.
Speaking to the press after the match at Croud Medow, a Cklamovski lamented his side’s wastefulness and said lessons must be learned from the loss.
“The games can be ruthless,” the 47-year-old said. “The performance was there, the chances were there and that’s a game we well and truly should have had in the bag.
“We were not lethal enough in the final moments in the box and we got punished for the goal they got towards the end of the game.
“It’s criminal how we don’t win the game and it’s unexplainable how we actually lose the game.”
You roared us on right until the end.
Thanks for your backing at Shrewsbury 🧡🖤 pic.twitter.com/b3l1cmyXYR
— Salford City FC (@SalfordCityFC) August 29, 2026
Salford began brightly went close to taking the league after 20 minutes when a swift counter-attack ended with Macaulay Langstaff firing narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Summer signing Langstaff nearly opened his Salford account in the third minute of first-half stoppage time when he latched onto a long ball forward from Will Norris and rounded goalkeeper Will Brook, but his effort from a tight angle was cleared off the line.
With the game goalless, substitute Kallum Cesay missed a golden opportunity after 72 minutes when he blazed a shot over the bar from close range.
The Ammies were punished for their wastefulness when Shrewsbury captain Boyle prodded home the winning goal two minutes later.
Cklamovski conceded the performance fell below the standards he expects from a side containing many of the key players who helped Salford reach last season’s play-off final, as well as several highly-rated summer signings.
“Ultimately, it’s on us and we are not accepting this,” he added. “It’s not good enough on our part and we acknowledge that and will use this as a harsh lesson to bounce back from (in our) next game.
“They had nothing other than that moment (the winning goal). Inside, the boys know we should have won that game; they know we had the chances and limited them to next to nothing.
“At the same time, there is a bit of an edge that we have to address and make sure this does not knock us down. We stay together, keep building and moving forward.”
