David Davis is looking up with Shrewsbury

Town find themselves 17th in the third tier ahead of Saturday’s crunch home clash against Fleetwood Town, who are two points further back in 19th.

Steve Cotterill’s men have lost just once in eight League One fixtures, but are looking for a first in five after three draws and a defeat.

The gap to the drop zone, in which Doncaster, Gillingham and Crewe are toiling with Morecambe aiming to climb clear of the final spot, is four points.

And Davis, who has been in good form of late, insists the last 17 games of the season are about more than survival. He said: “We’re not thinking about staying up, we’re looking up the table.

“I know obviously we’re in and around it at the moment but that’s not in our thoughts, about staying up.”

Town boast one of the tightest defences in the division and have been a tough nut to crack of late.

A stunning Bolton last-minute winner two Saturdays ago is the only league defeat they have tasted dating back to mid-December.

Davis added: “We’re fighting for each other and I think everyone can see that. We haven’t conceded many goals lately, at the start of the year we didn’t concede that many but we didn’t have many clean sheets.

“To win games you need to keep the ball out your own net and give yourself a platform to build on.”

Davis last week became a father for the second time as his partner gave birth to daughter Niah.

The midfielder already has a two-year-old son but was caught in a whirlwind few days last week as his partner gave birth in the early hours of Wednesday morning, shortly after Shrewsbury had travelled back from the midweek game in Gillingham.

Birmingham-based Davis was straight back into training the following day. He said: “It was a very busy week, you’ve got to take it in your stride.

“It was straight back into training and we travelled (to London) on Friday. But I took the reins over the weekend to let my missus have some good rest.

“We’re a lot more relaxed this time, it’s not easy to raise a child, but I’m excited and still on a high to spend time with my family. I’m used to those (nappies), I’ve done them for two-and-a-half years!”