Shrewsbury Town looking to turn Scunthorpe crowd

Town head to Glanford Park tomorrow to tackle Graham Alexander’s fifth-placed Iron, who have won just once in 11 games and are without a home success since New Year’s Day.

Last February Hurst and Town ended Scunthorpe’s outstanding home form and handed them a first defeat on their patch in 14 months.

Scunthorpe’s form this season has wavered since the turn of the year and Hurst wants his side to take advantage.

“Of course we want to (turn the crowd),” said the Town boss. “The crowd do expect there.

“They had a disappointment of losing out in the play-offs on home soil, particularly having got a decent result at Millwall.

“I’m sure they wanted to go one better and get promoted. That’ll be the aim and with that expectation comes a little bit of pressure.

“Sometimes that comes externally, not from staff, but from fans and you can’t control that as much. We’ve got to try and do that.”

Town, who have won four away matches in a row, are still without the injured James Bolton (ankle), who has not yet returned to training.

Hurst added that both Scunthorpe and fourth-placed Rotherham could need favours from the top three if they are to make a charge for automatic promotion.

“It would be a big ask now (for Scunthorpe),” he added. “You’re asking teams to come off the rails.

“Rotherham were right in the mix. They’re probably still more likely in contention but are perhaps getting to a stage where they need help from others.”

Meanwhile, Dean Henderson has received another call-up to the England Under-21 squad. They face Romania on March 24 and Ukraine on March 27.

He is set to miss Town’s games at Northampton on Tuesday and next Saturday against AFC Wimbledon.