Despite only picking up three points out of six, Town proved they can mix it with the league’s big boys with two encouraging performances, writes Shrewsbury Town blogger James Pugh.

It was a week that was meant to see how good Town actually are and if we could compete against the best teams in the division and all in all fans have got a lot to be encouraged about.

After a comfortable 2-0 victory against Rotherham last Tuesday, Town were very unfortunate in conceding a late own goal on Saturday and lose 1-0 at Bournemouth.

Town remain just outside the playoffs in ninth in what is a very close league with just 10 points separating Rotherham in third and Burton in 15th.

Every year few points separate the teams in League Two and this year is no exception. On their day any team can beat anyone and that is why every game should be played like a cup tie.

We usually see one or two teams pull away at the top by now, but we haven’t so far this year which is probably a good thing for Town as it means there is still a chance we can even win the league if we go on a fantastic run.

Town continue to struggle to keep clean sheets this season, which is probably due to players switching off at key times in games, but also because of the amount of times Simpson has had to change his goalkeepers.

Arestidou and Button look very talented but are young, lack experience and will make mistakes.

Another problem area which seems to crop up every year is the lack of goals we score from other areas on the field other than the strikers.

Hibbert’s goalscoring run was never going to last all season and you can’t expect a young man like Fairhurst to carry the pressure of scoring regularly.

That is when we need to see more from the defenders at set pieces and midfielders when they are in range of the goal to take a chance and be confident enough to hit the back of the net.

Next up for Town is a must win game against second bottom Grimsby at the Prostar.

After two tough games Town should not underestimate their opposition and instead repeat the determination and hard work they showed in their two previous games.

Meanwhile, if the form of Town’s youth side is anything to go by then the future for the club looks bright.

After thumping Accrington Stanley 5-0 on Saturday, they now face a tough FA Youth Cup tie against Hull City at the Prostar tonight (Monday).

A lot of the club’s managers have not invested time and effort in developing the youth side of the club and we have only seen the likes of Hart, Edwards and Tolley come through in recent years.

But Simpson seems to be a man who realises the importance of developing our own players and hopefully we will see more home-grown players wearing the blue and amber in years to come.