Shrewsbury Town boss Sam Ricketts was full of praise for Shillow Tracey after the on-loan Tottenham striker's hat-trick on Tuesday night.

Tracey capped a stunning personal evening with two late goals to earn Ricketts' visitors a 4-3 EFL Trophy victory in a rollercoaster contest at League One rivals Crewe.

"You can't ignore a performance like that and three goals. Football is about scoring goals," Ricketts said.

"Not just that, his pace, energy and running power were excellent. Him, Barney and JD (Josh Daniels) were very good in the first half.

"I said before if you want to be involved moving forward you have to perform tonight, that was your opportunity to impress and there were certainly a number that did impress."

Tracey said: "I'm buzzing. I'm pleased to get this opportunity, I'm lost for words really, it's the best day.

"I'm happy to help the team to win with three goals.

"I've just been grafting in training, trying to get into the team and I got my opportunity today.

"It was a crazy feeling, there is nothing better than that. It's my first hat-trick.

"Hopefully (I play on Saturday), we'll see. I've seen a few messages (from friends) but there's too much at the moment.

"Hopefully I'll get into the team more and keep improving."