But Town could not find an equaliser as they succumbed to their seventh defeat and ninth in 13 matches in all competitions.
“[It’s] disappointment and frustration, there’s nothing more to it than that,” Appleton told BBC Radio Shropshire about his side’s start to the campaign.
“There have been games when I’ve felt we really deserved to lose, but in a lot of the games, and certainly in the last five, we’ve been more than competitive and more than worthy of a lot more points.
“But words are words. Ultimately we have to stop talking and get doing, and that’s my message to the players.
“The lads have shown they’re capable. There’s more than enough in that dressing room to start winning games and pulling away from the position that we’re in.
“Hopefully you get the opportunity to do that, and if you don’t, that’s life.”