Shrewsbury v Exeter: Paul Hurst eager for points before testing April

The Town boss sees his side lock horns with Exeter City at Croud Meadow this evening as 17th hosts 16th with the clubs locked on 41 points and an almost identical goal difference.

It comes in the middle of a significant week for Salop in their third-tier survival bid. Having won at second-bottom Port Vale on Saturday, Shrewsbury tackle the Grecians before welcoming basement boys Carlisle on Saturday.

Boss Hurst admitted he sees 16th-placed Exeter and below as part of the battle to escape the drop. With nine fixtures remaining, Town remain three wins light of 50 points, the yardstick generally accepted as the figure required for League One safety.

And the Salop chief knows games directly ahead provide an opportunity, with the likes of promotion-hunting Oxford and Bolton as well as leaders Portsmouth still to come.

“I try not to put an absolute points total on it, albeit that (50 points) is often refereed to,” Hurst said.

“I did look at tables and stats and it has been good enough to stay up eight or nine times, generally you were safe.

“In terms of the table itself, I think it’s Exeter down that I would say is involved. It’s Wycombe above that on 44, while teams on 44 will want a few more points I will suggest they will end up safe.

“I’d be looking at teams like us on 41, and Exeter, and below, that will still feel they have bit more work to do.”

The Town chief added: “Maybe it’s easy to say (after) now but Saturday was almost bigger in a sense, but this is just as big because it’s the next one.

“We spoke about it being a big week, the games we’ve got. We wouldn’t take our eye off it but we’d be silly to admit we don’t know who we’ve got next and some games – on paper at least – look particularly difficult, albeit certain teams might have pressure on them when games come around, which might change how they face it or feel about it.

“So you never know, but certainly Port Vale, Exeter, Carlisle are games that a lot of people have been mentioning.”

Hurst and his fitness staff are assessing a slight fitness concern with one unnamed player ahead of tonight’s clash.

“We’ve got one player feeling a little bit of something that we need to check on, we’re certainly hopeful but will need to check on it,” he said. “We’re all good other than that with relatively good spirits as you can imagine but focused on what’s ahead and the challenge in regards to how it went when we last went Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday (featuring 3-0 and 2-0 defeats to Lincoln and Blackpool), that helps focus minds.”

The boss has overseen three victories since his return to Shropshire in January, on the road at Northampton, Reading and Port Vale and is keen to reward home supporters with some success.