Shrewsbury Town go under the national television spotlight tonight, with manager Paul Simpson challenging his side to win 10 of their remaining 14 games to contend for automatic promotion.

Town suffered a severe setback in their hopes of finishing in the top three on Friday night when they suffered a 1-0 defeat at high-flying Bury.

But they have an immediate chance to make amends in tonight’s trip to Rotherham – which is live on Sky – and Saturday’s visit of Bournemouth.

Rotherham officials are hopeful tonight’s game will go ahead, but issued an appeal for volunteers to help clear snow off the Don Valley Stadium pitch this morning.

Should it receive the go-ahead, Simpson is hoping his side can notch a vital victory.

“We have got 14 games left and I think 10 wins would give us a chance of automatic promotion,” said the Town boss.

“That would get us in the 80s in terms of points. Some people might say that 10 wins is a big ask but that’s what we are aiming for.”

On tonight’s encounter, Simpson added: “It’s a big game for us and we know the playing surface is not going to be good.

“It’s about playing the conditions well and taking no chances.”

Town suffered no injury problems on Friday, but Simpson has revealed he will shuffle around his starting line-up tonight with new recruits Jamie Cureton and Benjamin van den Broek amongst the players pushing for a start.

“We will look to freshen it up a little bit having played on a difficult surface on Friday and another difficult one tonight,” added the Town boss, who was remaining tight-lipped over the changes.

“We had a very strong 18 on Friday and all of the subs are capable of doing a job in the first team.”

Meanwhile, Simpson has urged his charges to rise to the challenge of playing in front of the live TV cameras.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice on Friday but this is a chance to show everyone up and down the country what we are about,” he added.

By JAMES GARRISON