Mat Sadler desperate for Shrewsbury action

The 30-year-old left-back is set to replace the suspended Junior Brown in Town's FA Cup third round tie at Cardiff on Sunday.

Brown is sidelined by a one-match ban for his sending-off in Saturday's 7-1 drubbing at Chesterfield.

Sadler hasn't played since coming on for Brown in the 1-1 draw against Fleetwood on Boxing Day which, in turn, was his first appearance since the 1-0 defeat at Wigan on November 21.

The former Birmingham and Walsall defender has had to be patient, with Brown showing excellent form up until last weekend.

And he wants to make up for lost time, insisting: "I'm ready – I always look after myself, anyway, so that's never been a problem.

"If you do lose that drive and you're happy not playing, you'd probably question what you're actually doing there. I'm desperate to play all the time."

Sadler wants to take his chance in south Wales and prove he has what it takes to stay in the side.

He said: "I talk to the manager quite a lot. I'm sure I'll go back into the team and when I do, I need to keep my place.

"I'm not used to not playing. I'm really desperate to get back in sooner rather than later."

Sadler has been doing all he can in training to show boss Micky Mellon what he can do, after being dropped earlier in the season.

He said: "There's clearly a reason why you've been taken out of the team so you need to change the opinion and prove why you should go back in.

"You need to be on your mettle in training and making a statement. You need to be giving that bit more and doing better."

Town are just a point and a place outside the drop zone and would fall into the bottom four if Blackpool beat Port Vale at home on Saturday.

Sadler admits this season hasn't gone to plan so far, saying: "We're not in the league position we want to be but we're not in the league position we expect ourselves to be in.

"We think we've got better players than we've shown and also better than what the league position has shown. So something has to come together or grow and develop.

"It's more or less a brand new team from last season and it takes time for it to work.

"Sometimes it takes time. There are reasons why we are where we are so we need to put those reasons right."

Sadler was dropped after his performances dipped and he explained: "It's difficult to explain loss of form, just like it's difficult to say why a team loses.

"Once you cross that white line, things happen and you probably make a couple of decisions in error that you'd like to think nine times out of 10 you'd get right.

"That's how I found myself really, I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe I need to work on those decisions I've made and a couple of mistakes I've made and everything will be fine."

Sadler admits Sunday's tie is not ideal, adding: "I'd have liked a home draw. It's the 10th time in 11 FA Cup ties we've been drawn away.

"We really need to be on our mettle to get something."