Match-winner Shane Cansdell-Sherriff today issued a pre-Christmas Shrewsbury Town battle cry, declaring: “We can win the League.”

The Australian centre-half notched the only goal of the game as Shrewsbury stretched their unbeaten home run to 19 matches with a 1-0 victory over Macclesfield on Saturday.

Town remain fourth but saw the three teams above them in League Two – Crawley, Southend and Cheltenham – all drop points over the weekend.

Just two points now separate Graham Turner’s side from the top three, while they are six adrift of leaders Crawley.

And, while acknowledging that promotion remains the primary target, Cansdell-Sherriff sees no reason why Town can’t launch a title challenge in the second half of the season.

“The belief is there for everybody and the Christmas period is massive for us,” said the 29-year-old.

“A lot of teams slip up at this time of year and it’s vital we don’t do that.

“We want to win the League. Promotion is foremost but we want to win the League and we have got a bunch (of players) who can do it.”

Cansdell-Sherriff admitted Southend’s home defeat to Bradford and Cheltenham’s relinquishing of two points in their 2-2 draw at Barnet – both on Friday night – had provided a major pre-match boost.

“Those results were mentioned before the game and it was vital we made the most of it,” he added.

“It was a massive win, especially to bounce back from a poor performance at Aldershot last week.

“We had a good performance and it was a nice time to score for the team because it put them on the back foot straight after half-time.

“We passed the ball well and got in behind and in between them and that’s what we want to do.”

By James Garrison

Related Stories:

• Shrewsbury Town 1 Macclesfield 0 – In pictures
• Blog – Shrewsbury Town close the gap at the top