Delighted Shrewsbury Town boss Graham Turner has urged his side to use last night’s thrilling victory at Crewe as the benchmark for future away performances.

Mark Wright, who had earlier given Town the lead, popped up with an injury time winner to seal a deserved 2-1 triumph at Gresty Road.

It was Town’s first away victory since August 31 and ended a run of just one point from the previous 15 on offer on the road prior to last night.

It means Shrewsbury are just one point off the automatic promotion places.

“We talked to the players about our recent away record which has been poor against some of the sides near the top of the table,” said Turner.

“Last night against dangerous opponents we got our three points, showed a lot of character and the players also set a standard for themselves which I don’t expect them to drop below.

“I thought we played extremely well and it would have been a travesty had we not won it.

“We worked very hard and there was a lot of resilience shown when they were chasing the game.

“I have got a high regard for Dario (Gradi, Crewe manager) and his teams. Last night they were a good team and we beat them which is a yardstick for us.”

Turner also paid tribute to centre half Exodus Geohaghon who made his debut only a few hours after completing a loan move from Peterborough to help solve Shrewsbury’s injury woes.

“It was very difficult for Exodus to come in,” the Town boss added.

“He only met the players at the hotel with our pre-match meal and I thought he put in a real workmanlike performance.”

Geohaghon and the three other Town loanees – Wright, Mat Sadler and Tope Obadeyi – have all been given permission by their parent clubs to feature in Saturday’s FA Cup first round tie at Southampton.

Tonight it is the turn of Shrewsbury’s youngsters who entertain Boston in the FA Youth Cup at the Greenhous Meadow (7pm).

By JAMES GARRISON