Talismanic captain Ian Sharps is racking up the miles in an attempt to win his fitness battle to lead Shrewsbury Town into play-off battle tomorrow night.

A thigh and groin problem has left Sharps, who lasted just 25 minutes of Saturday’s first leg semi-final defeat at Torquay, as a major doubt for the Greenhous Meadow return.

But Shrewsbury are leaving no stone unturned in the bid to get their skipper fit as they attempt to overturn a two-goal deficit.

“Ian Sharps has been down to London to see a specialist on Monday and he saw the same specialist in Huddersfield on Tuesday,” said Town boss Graham Turner.

“You have to try these things. It’s no good sitting back accepting the situation and keeping your fingers crossed. From what I gather, everybody is quite optimistic he will be fit.”

Should Sharps recover, it would be a major boost for Town’s chances after the 30-year-old swept the board in Town’s player-of-the-year honours.

And Turner is also still holding out hope that the thigh injury which has left right back David Raven sidelined for the last fortnight will clear in time for him to come into contention.

“Dave did the warm-up yesterday with the rest of the players and then went under the supervision of the physio,” added Turner.

“Again, that is in the balance and we will leave it as late as possible.”

Town will finalise preparations for tomorrow night with their last training session today, with Turner preparing his side to produce one huge effort in search of a famous fightback.

“Watching the DVD from last Saturday, there was nothing in the game, certainly for the first 25 minutes,” said Turner.

“Second half, we were awful but when we have thrown in a poor performance this season, we have generally bounced back from them and that is what we have to do tomorrow.”

By JAMES GARRISON