Disappointed boss Graham Turner today attempted to lift his Shrewsbury Town troops after labelling the Bank Holiday defeat to Crewe as his side’s worst display of the season.

Town saw their longest unbeaten home start to a campaign since 1978-9 come to an abrupt halt yesterday when they were beaten 1-0 by Dario Gradi’s side at the Greenhous Meadow.

The defeat brought an end to a seven-match League streak without a defeat and left Shrewsbury six points adrift of the automatic promotion places, albeit with a game in hand on a some of their rivals.

“The disappointment as much as the result was the level of performance,” said Turner.

“It was only the last 15 minutes that we really showed any urgency.

“The overall contribution to the game and the way we played was as poor as we have had all season. We let Crewe to dictate to us and they played extremely well.

“We tried to change it several times to counter it and got a foothold for part of the second half and in the last 15 minutes.

“But overall, the level of performance – individually and collectively – was as poor as we have had all season.”

Bolstering

Turner will now be seeking a response this weekend with Morecambe the visitors on Saturday.

Before that, the Town boss has not ruled out bolstering his squad after revealing he had made an offer to a mystery target.

And Turner will also be hoping to resolve the futures of his quartet of loanees.

Andrew Tutte and Tope Obadeyi are both available for Saturday, while Turner is confident the formalities on extending Mat Sadler’s loan from Watford will be completed this week.

But the future of leading scorer Mark Wright remains shrouded in doubt.

“We haven’t agreed a fee with Bristol Rovers,” said Turner, who confirmed negotiations were on-going with the League One club.

“If there is any opportunity to negotiate on the fee then we would like him to stay.”

By JAMES GARRISON