Home comforts at last and George Lloyd selection call - the Shrewsbury Town debrief

George Lloyd and Will Boyle got the first-half goals to lift Salop out of the relegation zone. Here are the key talking points.

Home comforts

Michael Appleton finally got to do the thing he has been waiting for since being appointed in March - celebrate three points with the home faithful.

You can't say it has been worth the wait for a home league victory, with the fans' patience for that success stretching all the way back to February 1, but the relief that followed the end of that dreadful run was palpable.

The hope now is that this is the catalyst to pull Town out of their nosedive.

Appleton had talked up his side's chances ahead of the game - despite sitting in the League Two relegation zone with one win to their name - and revealed after he 'had a feeling' that the win was coming following a much-improved showing in the 0-0 draw at Barrow the previous week.

"I had a good feeling about today," Appleton said. "We spoke with a couple of people before the game and said there's a good feeling about the place, and I think the performance last week set us up a little bit."

The first goal

A key part of Town's first home win in six months being comfortable rather than somewhat dramatic was the fact they scored the first goal - something they had not yet achieved this season.

Salop will undoubtedly need to come from behind at some point this season, but if they can replicate that first half against Cambridge and get out of the blocks quickly then they will make life easier for themselves.

"It just goes to show that if you get the first goal you give yourself a massive chance of winning the game," said Appleton. "I said to the players that we need to see how teams react under pressure, because if you get that first goal all of a sudden you're playing against a different team."

George Lloyd

Town's No.9 was called into the team for his first start since August 23, and how he repaid that selection decision.

He not only netted the opening goal, he led the line superbly well by himself - with support coming from behind in the form of a more-advanced Tommy McDermott.

Lloyd, who described the 'relief' after the game, added: "I didn't feel like I needed to score today, and I didn't need to be under that kind of pressure to be honest.

"I wanted to go out there, work hard and enjoy myself, and I knew if I did that good things would come."

John Marquis

Of course, with one player called into the team, another has to drop out - and on this occasion it was captain John Marquis.

The 33-year-old centre-forward has struggled to match the goalscoring exploits of League One last season - which is not completely his fault, but it was also clear that a fresher approach paid off for Salop.

There is still a big role for Marquis to play this season, and it may benefit not just the team but the man himself if that isn't playing every minute of a 46-game campaign.

Out of the drop zone

For all of Town's improvement, they were set to remain in the relegation zone, with Steve Cotterill's Cheltenham Town taking an 87th-minute lead at high-flying Gillingham.

However, Elliott Nevitt struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time for the Gills to lift Shrewsbury's heads above water.

Moving on to another huge game at home to Crawley Town on Saturday, three more points would start to put some daylight between Salop and the bottom two - and ease the pressure that has been building all around the club.