Shrewsbury v Stevenage: Time for Town to deliver on their recent promise

Matt Taylor’s side need a result. The last two performances have been good. They have been promising, but Salop are at the point where they need more than just promising displays.

They created a stack of chances against Wrexham and sadly they just could not finish them off, falling to defeat – an agonising one for Shrews fans to take against their arch-rivals.

And the problem is that loss meant it was five defeats out of the last six for Taylor’s men across all competitions, with another tough game in prospect against Steve Evans’ side who have a point to prove.

It feels like the worst time to play Stevenage after their embarrassing FA Cup defeat to Maidstone United last week – a team that currently plays in the National League South.

So they will be desperate to react after that result, which was undoubtedly one of the shocks of the Cup weekend. They also have so much to play for in League One – they are currently seventh, on the same points as Barnsley, having played a game more.

They are well in with a shot of getting in the play-offs this season, but they cannot afford too many more slip-ups, so they will be well up for the game in Shropshire tomorrow.

They demonstrated what they were all about at the Lamex Arena earlier this campaign. They were direct, physical and they bullied Town, achieving a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Aaron Pressley and Jamie Reid, so a similar game is to be expected.

Town are close to being over their injury crisis, and now just five first-team players are out.

And, speaking before the game, Taylor confirmed that Ryan Finnigan has returned to parent club Southampton and said talks are still ongoing with Huddersfield and Hull City over the respective futures of Brandon Fleming and Kieran Phillips.

Shrews have been working hard to land forwards, with Taylor making no secret of his desire to add more strikers to his squad in January.

Wolves’ Nathan Fraser attended their game with Fleetwood, while Ademola Ola-Adebomi, from Crystal Palace, attended the derby against Wrexham.

The Town boss has confirmed they are interested in both, but Fraser is in Abu Dhabi with his club and Palace will not make a decision on Ola-Adebomi until after their FA Cup replay with Everton – which is not scheduled to take place until Wednesday, January 17.

The Shropshire Star understands both players are keen on a move to Salop, but ultimately the decision does not lie with them.

There is a lot of talk about Town bringing in some attacking reinforcements this month as they are the lowest scorers in League One.

After this game, they have a tough trip to Peterborough and their record away from the Croud Meadow has been uninspiring.