Dave Edwards: Things are looking up with Shrewsbury firing once again

MK Dons was a big win, especially after losing against Cheltenham with a poor performance the week before.

To bounce back at the Meadow like they did, making it three home wins on the bounce and up to ninth in the table, is fantastic.

I was lucky enough to be at the game and I was so impressed with how Shrewsbury acquitted themselves. I know people will say that MK Dons are not in good form and struggling in the table, but Shrewsbury never gave them a chance to get into the game.

They should have been out of sight and could have been three or four goals to the good before MK Dons pulled their goal back.

It’s really positive and the fans will be more confident with the way the team are playing. I’ve played against a lot of Steve Cotterill teams in the past and this was like the peak Bristol City days.

Playing 3-5-2, making the pitch as big as possible, moving the ball quickly and hurting the opposition, it was brilliant to watch.

Steve Cotterill does want to play more possession-based football but that only comes from a place of confidence and you’re now seeing a team with a lot of synergy with a strong core. It’s falling into place and now they just need consistency. If they play like they did on Saturday consistently, without the away day blues, then the sky is the limit for Shrewsbury this season. I really think they can push on. I was really impressed with how the team was set up and the creativity they showed. The only thing that was lacking was probably a few more goals.

The recruitment at Shrewsbury has to be praised. Knowing that they can’t match other teams with their budget, they have to have a smaller squad and get players that can play a number of positions.

Jordan Shipley played at left-wing-back and was excellent. Taylor Moore has played in midfield and was in defence on Saturday.

Unfortunately, Matthew Pennington came off in the first half with a groin injury and the team was loaded with strikers on the bench, so they took off a centre-half and brought on a striker in Rob Street. That one change meant five players had to move position. Street came in up front, Moore moved to the right side of defence, Luke Leahy dropped from midfield to the left side of defence, Elliott Bennett moved from right-wing-back to the centre of midfield and Rekeil Pyke moved from striker to right-wing-back – but it didn’t affect the game.

No-one looked lost, everyone knows their role and that is a really big positive for fans to take.

Town have a lot of players to come back injury too, but they look strong and are in a really good place.

Moore has had an indifferent start to his Shrewsbury career but I thought this was his best game for the club. He moves the ball at an intensity that suits this style. We have a lot of good defenders who are capable on the ball, but Moore is a very good ball player. They key player for me, who has been the star of the last month or so, is Tom Bayliss. He’s playing a number 10 role in this midfield, something Shrewsbury have not had consistently since Jon Nolan. He’s creative and in recent weeks has been brilliant. He transforms this side.