Key midfielder Sean McAllister is backing Shrewsbury Town to display their promotion mettle by providing an emphatic response to recent hiccups.

Town’s flying start to the season has suffered a jolt in the last fortnight with a run of five matches without a victory.

But former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder McAllister is convinced Shrewsbury can make a rapid return to winning ways, starting at home to managerless Lincoln on Saturday.

“Since the Wycombe game, we have had a few dips in performance,” admitted the 23-year-old.

“The recent results have been a bit disappointing but it’s not the end of the world.

“A good couple of results and we will be back in the top three places so hopefully we can start against Lincoln on Saturday.

“We have got the quality to be up there and we still fully believe we are capable of promotion this season.

“We have been looking at the videos to find areas we can improve and working hard on the training ground so I’m sure we will reap the rewards.”

McAllister made his return after a brief absence with a hamstring injury at Morecambe last week, and is now fully over the problem.

“I was only missing a week and I’m feeling strong again now.”

Shrewsbury reserves were beaten 3-1 at Burnley last night. Steve Leslie saw a penalty saved in the early stages with the score 0-0. Tom Bradshaw grabbed a late consolation for Town.