Recovering Shrewsbury skipper Simon Evitts was an interested spectator on the sidelines as his side slipped to a fifth straight Midlands Two West (North) defeat.

Evitts was only discharged from hospital on the morning of the game, having spent three days in hospital with a suspected broken neck which he suffered on a stag do in Gran Canaria.

Shrewsbury rugby skipper Simon Evitts can only watch on in a neck brace as his side slipped to defeat against Stafford. Evitts hurt his neck diving in to a swimming pool while on a stag do and is waiting to see if he has a broken vertebrae.

And he could only watch as his side opened up a 10-0 lead before slipping to a 32-13 defeat at home to Stafford.

“We were going well for more than half an hour and I was getting a lot of stick from people saying they didn’t even need me,” joked Evitts, who must wait for a scan a week today before learning for sure if he has broken the C1 vertebrae in his neck.

“But after half-time they ran riot a little bit and once their first try went on the board our confidence went down.”

Tom Lowrie-Herz and Dan Harrison were the first half try scorers for Shrewsbury – Harrison also kicking a second half penalty.

But the result leaves the team stranded at the bottom – and Evitts believes they must work on their fitness to turn it around.

“We’re going to be starting indoor fitness sessions at the Grange Sports Centre where I work,” he revealed.

“We want them to be very competitive amongst the lads. Everyone bought into it when we talked about it after the game and hopefully we can start to get thenumbers up in training.”

Bridgnorth were able to field their strongest line-up in several weeks thanks to the return of several experienced players.

But that could not prevent them slipping to a 15-11 defeat at home to Tamworth, a result that has seen them drop well off the promotion pace.

Stefan Hildred had kicked Bridgnorth in front with two penalties but they trailed 10-6 at the break before briefly regaining the lead with a Connor Madden try.

But Hildred missed the conversion and simpler penalty chance soon after and was to rue that as the visitors snatched victory with a pushover try in the dying seconds.