It has become a conundrum almost worthy of being the jackpot question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Just how can Shrewsbury Town’s home results be so spectacular and yet, simultaneously, their away form be so dismal?

That pattern has, up until now at least, been enough to keep Shrewsbury in the thick of the promotion chase.

If Paul Simpson’s men are to last the pace, however, they will surely have to be celebrating victory on opposition territory on a few more occasions between now and the end of the season.

And the last Town manager to bring real consistency on the road to Shropshire’s sole Football League club believes a win – however it comes – will make all the difference.

“You just need that one win to get that bit of belief and a feeling the luck is going your way and the players will feel that as well,” said Fred Davies, whose championship-winning side of 1993-4 won 12 times on the road.

“I’ve seen them a lot playing at home this season and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be getting results away.

“It’s the same players that are playing at home and they are playing the same sort of football.

“I’m sure Paul is working hard to try and put that right but one win will change everything.

“When we had those 12 wins, I think we lost our second away game 6-1 at Preston. But we got a win and the belief came back.

“There were some good times in that season and I’m convinced from what I’ve seen that those good times are not far off returning to the club.”

Just to recap on the grim statistics, Town have won once in 15 attempts on the road to League Two this term, accumulated 12 from a possible 45 points and scored just 11 times.

They have also managed just one away League triumph since a 2-1 success at Accrington Stanley on 22 December 2007.

That’s just one win in 27 games – or as one seasoned Town observer remarked at Bournemouth on Saturday: “We have had more Christmases than Shrewsbury away League wins since that day.”

The frustration is only intensified by the evidence that Town have shown they can get it right on their travels.

An opening away day backs-to-the-wall victory at Exeter showed encouraging resilience while Town have also won at St James’s Park in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

And that’s before even bringing into the reckoning a 7-0 thumping at current League leaders Wycombe in the same competition, albeit on a night when changes were made to both teams.

Encouraging performances have also come in the League – most notably at Chesterfield and Rochdale, although both games yielded a combined return of just one point.

The longer this miserable away record goes on, the more it will become a psychological barrier for players who carried a crestfallen look after Saturday’s latest setback.

But it is a barrier they must break through, or questions concerning their away form will remain.

By JAMES GARRISON