Shrewsbury Town hitman Dave Hibbert is on course for a quick-fire return to first-team action.

Town’s 14-goal leading scorer had been expected to face up to four weeks on the sidelines with a groin problem which ruled him out of Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Rochdale.

But Hibbert has made encouraging progress over the weekend and a return for the home game against bottom club Darlington on Saturday week is looking a realistic target.

“It has settled down a lot,” Town boss Paul Simpson said this morning.

“He is down in London for a couple of days with the specialist he sees down there and he had a really good day yesterday.

“Hopefully it is not going to be as long as we first thought.

“There is a real strong possibility that he will be fit for a week on Saturday and there is even a slight chance he may be ready for this weekend.

“If he is back in the next couple of weeks, that would be a massive boost for us but we just have to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury have received confirmation that defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff will miss just one game – this weekend’s trip to Aldershot – following his red card against Rochdale.

“It’s disappointing because we have got Dean Holden back from suspension and I was looking forward to having five defenders to pick from for four positions, but that won’t be the case now,” added the Town boss

Simpson joined the great and good of football in Lincoln yesterday to attend the funeral of former Macclesfield boss Keith Alexander who died two weeks ago.

“I’m really glad I went,” he said. “I couldn’t say Keith was a really close friend but I really respected his football achievements and he was a really decent fella whenever I came across him.”

By JAMES GARRISON