Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury Town must have the right state of mind

Town fell to just a second defeat in nine losing 2-1 to MK Dons on Saturday but are straight back in action against another of League One's headline names in the Addicks.

Charlton, like Dons, are struggling to make their mark in the third tier and a Greenhous Meadow success tomorrow could see Salop could close the gap to the former Premier League outfit to one point.

Hurst felt his squad lacked energy and drive in Buckinghamshire and wants mental toughness from his squad amid a busy and crucial fortnight of fixtures.

"Maybe how games go, you can look tired and feel tired," said Town's manager. "You will have periods over the season where you're not feeling quite as fresh.

"As we move towards March and the end of February I get that.

"But at the same time you have to battle that in your mind. I've said a lot of it – or part of it at least is a state of mind – if you think you're tired and let yourself feel tired then you will be.

"You have to stay strong and try and give everything. I thought one or two lacked a little bit of drive today but it's not a time to rest.

"We have a game tomorrow and we're at home. We've got to try to carry this home form on that the lads have done extremely well in getting the points there."

Salop will be testing the fitness of Tyler Roberts (hamstring) ahead of tomorrow's game, after he was forced to sit out the Dons trip.

"Generally I can't have any arguments about the mentality of the squad," added Hurst. "You want to raise standards, I'm not going to sit here and accept being beat.

"But at the same time, with what we are, we're going to suffer defeats at times. I'll always demand more – that's whether we win, lose or draw – you want more.

"They (MK Dons) were there to be pushed back. We did at times, but overall I thought we had the better of it second period. It was just a shame we couldn't get that goal."