Defender Kelvin Langmead insists the carrot of automatic promotion is still dangling in front of Shrewsbury Town.

Paul Simpson’s side remain in eighth position after a goalless draw at Aldershot last night.

Four points separates Shrewsbury from the top three, although that gap could extend if teams above win their games in hand.

But Langmead insists there remains a belief that automatic promotion is in reach.

“It’s all about consistency,” he said. “Every single team in the top eight will be thinking ‘we can get that top three position.’

“There are nine games to go, if you put in a good unbeaten run now you will get promoted, it’s as simple as that.

“We are certainly not dead and buried and the away win will come.

“It will not go on forever and then other teams will look at us, see we have turned that around and see us as a real threat.

“Last night was a strange one. We were delighted after the last two away games (at Luton and Macclesfield) to keep a clean sheet and pick up a point.

“But second half especially we took it to them and we’re maybe slightly disappointed we didn’t win the game.

“It just didn’t quite fall for us. There were many scrambles and on another day, it’s four or five nil.”

Manager Paul Simpson was delighted with his team’s efforts at the Recreation Ground on a night when he reverted to a 4-5-1 formation.

“It was a point and it was a really strong performance which is the big positive,” he said.

“It was a fantastic work ethic from the players, we have created some good opportunities and probably should have taken a bit more.

“We had to make sure we didn’t lose last night.

“After the last two away performances we wanted to get back to being solid and not giving much away.

“The system worked for us.

“It was a strong shape and it also gave us good opportunities going forward. Maybe we could have had a few more.”

By James Garrison