Boss Paul Simpson insists Shrewsbury Town can begin 2010 in buoyant style – by defeating the best home side in League Two.

Town enter the new year with a trip to promotion-chasing Chestefield tomorrow, with the Spireites proving a serious force at Saltergate so far.

It’s a tough assignement on paper, but Simpson believes Shrewsbury’s 3-1 victory at Bradford on Monday has done wonders for morale.

And he is warning that Chesterfield should be just as wary of his side as Shrewsbury will be of the east Midlanders.

“They’ve got a fantastic record at home,” said Simpson. “It’s the best in our league.

“They’ve won nine, drawn one and lost one. That’s quite phenomenal, and only Rochdale come close.

“We know it’s going to be tough, but Crewe went there the other week and got a good result, and there’s no reason why we can’t go there full of confidence after what we did at Bradford.

“They are a really good side and, in John Sheridan, they have a very experienced manager.

“But if we play to our potential then they have to worry about us as well.”

Town have already taken four points over the festive period, having followed up a 2-2 draw at home to Macclesfield on Boxing Day with that win at Bradford.

And Simpson believes they go into 2010 in reasonably good shape.

“I’m sure if anyone had been offered four points from the last two games they’d have been delighted, but we did it the wrong way round,” he said.

“If we’d beaten Macclesfield and drawn at Bradford we wouldn’t have had as much criticism.

“As it turned out, it wasn’t a bad weekend for us. That 96th minute goal from Dave Hibbert against Macclesfield on Boxing Day could prove to be so important.

“It gave the players a lift going into the Bradford game and now we have to use that lift again.

“We have to make sure we do it properly at Chesterfield and then in the run of games throughout January.”