Shane Cansdell-Sherriff of Shrewsbury Town is tackled by Danny Green of Dagenham & Redbridge

After a slow start in the transfer window things have begun hotting up, with Town making their first new signing and the pledge of more on the way, writes Shrewsbury Town blogger James Pugh.

Following the departure of Elder, who inevitable scored on his debut for AFC Wimbledon, Omer Riza was the latest Town flop to leave following the early release from his contract.

Riza has never impressed me during his time with the club, although he could argue he struggled with consistency due to injury and didn’t get a run of games in the side.

At the moment these departures have left us short in attack, although Simpson has assured fans he is looking at bringing in new faces.

In terms of strikers, what do fans think about bringing in Marc Richards from Port Vale. He is only 27, scores goals and his contract is up in the summer?

Another possibility is the much travelled 31 year-old Michael Rickets, who has been released by Tranmere Rovers. He has proven in the past he can score goals, most notably for Bolton which earned him an England cap, and would be a like-for-like replacement for Elder. The challenge would be getting him to drop down a division.

One man who has joined the club until the end of the season is left back Joe Skarz, from Huddersfield. Although only 20, he has played a decent number of games for his club and provides us with a much needed natural left back in the squad.

I am usually not as big fan of loan signings, but if funds are tight, if the better player will only be available to buy in the summer, and if is the only way to put us in with a chance of getting promoted, then so be it.

Following, a run of three league away matches on the trot, Town returned to the Prostar with a hard fought 2-1 win over promotion chasers Dagenham.

The victory was even more impressive considering we were without our inspirational leader Coughlan and we had two very young fullbacks playing for much of the game.

Despite improvements to the away form in recent weeks, Town’s home form has been inconsistent with too many draws against beatable teams, which has led to our home attendances dropping below 5,000 and some fans to openly criticise the manager.

Simpson had every right to hit back at these fans last week as the time to judge him will be at the end of the season.

Next up for Town is a home game against mid-table Accrington. On paper it looks very much like a winnable game, but Accrington have the lethal former Town player Michael Symes in their side and he is sure to want to put one over on us.