If Graham Turner needed any final assurances of his squad’s potential ahead of tonight’s transfer deadline, it came in this game at Walsall.

Only if a late gem emerges on one of the most hectic days on the football calendar will Turner delve into the market before this evening’s 11pm cut-off point.

And on the evidence of his side’s unfortunate Johnstone’s Paint Trophy exit last night, it is easy to see why the Town manager is relaxed at the prospect of ploughing through the next stage of this gruelling campaign with his current crop.

A Shrewsbury side which contained five changes made voluntarily by Turner pushed their League One hosts – whose strongest possible team included just one switch from Saturday – to the brink before finally succumbing in this most watchable of first round ties.

And it provided further confirmation that Town’s squad should be a genuine force to be reckoned with in this season’s real battle – namely for promotion from League Two.

The visitors were ultimately undone by first half wonder strikes from Ryan Jarvis and Richard Taundry, which left Turner’s men with a mountain to climb.

They came close to scaling those heights, too, with a hugely encouraging second half display which had the home faithful in a relatively sparse but boisterous crowd breathing a sigh of relief at the full-time whistle.

Shrewsbury were by far the dominant force in the second half of this pulsating encounter, the tide only briefly stemmed in the 70th minute when a penalty from Jarvis thumped off the crossbar after Jermaine Grandison was harshly adjudged to have forced Alex Nicholas to the ground.

Boosted by an own goal from Andy Butler – under pressure from Tom Bradshaw as he attempted to clear a Joe Jacobson cross – three minutes after the break, Shrewsbury’s easy-eye-on-the-eye passing and movement had their higher graded hosts at full stretch.

Chances came and went, most notably when substitute Mark Wright sliced a good opportunity wide, while Walsall goalkeeper David Grof twice denied Tom Bradshaw in one goalmouth scramble.

Shrewsbury had taken a little while to settle during a first half in which Shane Cansdell-Sherriff went close with a pair of headers from corners.

Yet they could still count themselves slightly unfortunate to be two goals adrift at the break after Jarvis and Taundry produced finishes which wouldn’t have looked out of place had they been scored by Arsenal at the Emirates in three weeks time.

A 30-yard thunderbolt from the angle from Jarvis was perfectly placed to leave the unfortunate Chris Neal helpless on his first start of the season on 17 minutes, while Taundry doubled his side’s money from 20 yards shortly before the break after the visitors had partially cleared a corner.

Shrewsbury almost suffered the start of nightmares when a first minute slip from Reuben Hazell allowed Nicholls to break free, but his scuffed shot allowed the experienced defender to recover and mop up the danger on the line.

Alas – after the heroics of victory at Derby and Swansea – that wasn’t to prove the starting point of a third giantkilling act of the season.

Yet Shrewsbury could, particularly in the second half, scarcely have done much more.

And, despite their three match winning streak being halted, they return to League duty at Gillingham on Saturday with belief and momentum firmly intact.

By JAMES GARRISON