Oldham draw a 'massive learning curve' - McDermott

Tommy McDermott has made two appearances for Burnley's first team since joining from Port Vale in August 2024

Shrewsbury Town midfielder Tommy McDermott says the players "all thought they had won" their League Two game at Oldham before an injury-time equaliser dashed their hopes in another "massive learning curve" for the 20-year-old.

McDermott's first league goal in the 91st minute for Town had looked like winning the game against the Latics only for Joe Garner to save a point for the home side in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

"It's a massive learning curve. You can never switch off," McDermott told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"We all thought we'd won the game. A goal in the 90th minute - it was one of the best feelings of my life, then to concede is disappointing."

McDermott is with Salop on a season-long loan from Premier League side Burnley and after grabbing his first goal for Town in the Vertu Trophy in his third appearance, his strike at Boundary Park was his first in the league.

But he said the way the game ended took some of the gloss off his personal milestone.

"As much as I'd like to make it about me, we needed to see the game out and get the three points," he said.

"It would be selfish to talk about my goal when there was three points on the line that we needed.

"There's things I definitely need to learn - for example scoring in the 90th minute and going crazy and then we end up conceding.

"It's a good feeling to get my first goal but I'm going to go back and look at it and be in working hard next week."

Key to starting place not just goals

Despite the disappointment of seeing two points slip away, the draw extended Michael Appleton's side's unbeaten run to four matches as they inched a point clear of the bottom two.

And McDermott believes things will continue to improve after they won only one of their first 10 league games.

"We've been on a good run and we definitely believed we could turn it around.

"The last four games have been a good showcase of what we're about.

"You want to play every week but you've got to earn your spot and it doesn't just come from scoring goals. It's the running and the principles the gaffer has set out for us."