Under-fire boss Paul Simpson today rallied his beleaguered Shrewsbury Town troops for Saturday’s derby at Crewe after admitting: “I’ve made mistakes this season”.

A run of six successive defeats has all but ended Town’s play-off chances and increased the pressure from supporters on the future of Simpson.

The Town boss is refusing to give up hope of his team yet making an unlikely charge to the top seven, but insists he is only focused on Saturday.

“It’s a really tough time for us,” said Simpson today. “There have been signs that there are improvements in the last two games but we need to get a result.

“When you lose six straight games the intensity of the situation builds and builds and we have to go to Crewe and do everything we possibly can to get a result.

“We need our big characters to come through to help us do that.”

On the continued speculation over his own future, Simpson added: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

“I’m still confident in my ability to turn things around – I’ve been in worse situations than this before.

“We are on a really tough run and it’s not enjoyable.

“I accept, over the season, that I have made some mistakes but we all just have to look forward now.”

Meanwhile, Town are hoping the knee ligament damage to striker Jake Robinson will not prevent him from being available for the remainder of this season.

Robinson sustained the injury in his substitute outing at Torquay last Saturday and was on crutches for the game against Notts County on Monday.