Shrewsbury Town’s board of directors today issued a rallying cry to the club’s frustrated fans, urging: “Roar us to promotion.”

The mood among supporters of the men in blue-and-amber has been bleak in recent days, after a run of three successive defeats that has seen them drop to 10th in League Two.

But vice chairman Keith Sayfritz, representing chairman Roland Wycherley and the board, has called on fans to put their frustrations with manager Paul Simpson’s team to one side – starting with the visit of bottom team Darlington on Saturday.

“We are still in there with a great opportunity to achieve promotion and it would be a massive help at this stage if everyone gets behind Paul and his team,” said Sayfritz.

“We are lucky to have tremendous support, and we just want to reproduce the same sort of feeling that we had when we won at Milton Keynes in 2007 and at Bury in the play-offs last year.

“There will be highs and lows on the run-in I’m sure, but we still believe we can achieve success and my plea would be for the fans to get right behind us.”

Sayfritz accepts that there have been a number of disappointments this season – pointing to the FA Cup defeat against non-League Staines and League losses at lowly Darlington and Grimsby as cases in point.

But he insists that the directors feel those setbacks no less keenly than the supporters, adding: “We’re fans as well, and we feel the same frustrations. This has been a season of some lows, but a lot of highs as well.

“If we managed to get a win on Saturday we’d have the same points total as we had at the same stage last season so, as far as we’re concerned, there’s still a lot to play for.

“The spirit among the squad is excellent. I have the privilege of travelling with the team and I know everything is done right in the preparation for every game.

“Maybe one day we’ll be 15 points clear of a division with four games to go, and that would be fantastic. We’re not now, but we still have a great opportunity.”

By CHRIS HUDSON