Paul Hurst makes honest Shrewsbury admission

Salop have lost six out of their first seven League One matches and they have won just one game in normal time of their opening 10 across all competitions.

Town have two home games to try to correct their stuttering start to the campaign and Hurst is well aware the responsibility for results rests on his shoulders.

“Ultimately, I am in charge of the team,” he said. “I know what the job is, and I know the responsibility that it carries and that is why I come out to speak after the game, because that is where everyone looks to.

“Players to a degree get some of that, but I am the one who has to come out and try to address it, and we have got to try and change it somehow.”

And Hurst says the 2-1 defeat to Mansfield last weekend felt like a missed opportunity and that the fine margins are not going their way at the moment.

He continued: “In general, personnel-wise, I think most players have had some kind of chance in the team in general and, overall, we have come up short. I have said some of that is because, whether we like to admit or not, we have just come up against better teams.

“But there has also, and we have spoken a lot and it feels like we are doing a similar interview, I am very conscious of when people read this they will be like ‘It is the same again, the same again’ but that is how it feels.

“I am not going to say something different just create a different headline, this is just what I am seeing.

“But together, we missed a big opportunity on Saturday, they played midweek, yes they changed the team, but I felt there was a real opportunity and first half we saw that and in the second half, I still think we do not help ourselves.

“And it is fine margins, and they are definitely not helping us at this time.”

Salop welcome Steve Evans’ Rotherham to Shropshire this weekend, a side who have had a faltering start to the season themselves since their relegation from the Championship.

They have not won away from home since November 2022 in the league, so something will give in this clash one way or another.

Town then welcome Stockport County to the Meadow.