Paul Simpson today marked his first anniversary as Shrewsbury Town manager by declaring: “We have taken massive strides – but there’s a lot I still want to do.”

Town find themselves with the chance to challenge for promotion with nine games remaining after finishing 18th last season.

Simpson admits there is plenty of work ahead as he pursues long-term goals, but is happy with the progress over the first 12 months.

“I think it has flown by and I have enjoyed it,” said Simpson.

“The club has definitely come on from the first day that I came in. I still think there are a lot of things I want to try and address inside the football club.

“It’s a difficult one because it always sounds as if you are making excuses but I’m not.

“We are still in a position where we have a lot of players who have been here for a while.

“Some of them I want to keep, some of them I don’t think are right for us.

“It’s a case of working to turn it around and making sure we have a squad that’s capable and able to compete at the top end of the division for a longer period than we have done this year.

“If, whilst we are making those changes, we can have a little bit of success as well it will be even better for us.”

Simpson admitted he has been thrilled with the financial backing of chairman Roland Wycherley after making high-profile summer signings including the £170,000 capture of leading scorer Grant Holt.

“I’m delighted with the backing I have been given from the chairman,” he added.

“We have only slightly gone over the budget we had last season but we are working with a better group of players in my opinion and I think the League position shows that.”

“But we need to make sure we do it even better over the next nine games.”