Shrewsbury may request to use injured West Brom man Tyler Roberts on final day
Paul Hurst revealed Town may look to use injured forward Tyler Roberts on the final day of the season should they require a positive result at Oxford.
The on-loan West Brom youngster has been sidelined with a hamstring complaint since Town's defeat against Millwall on April 4 and is recovering with his parent club.
The Shrews boss said it is unlikely that Roberts will play again this season – but added that he is prepared to talk with the Premier League side in a bid to get the talented youngster involved at Oxford, should they need his efforts.
But The Hawthorns side are monitoring the muscle injury with the 18-year-old's long-term future in mind.
"I don't think he probably will," said Hurst. "It's not him 100 per cent ruled out for the last game but it's looking more and more unlikely.
"The clubs have been in contact and he's making progress but there's an element of them obviously wanting to protect him longer term which we have to respect.
"We'll see - hopefully we don't need him.
"But I'm not going to say that there won't be a conversation next week if needs to be."
Roberts wasted little time in endearing himself to Shrews faithful after his loan move in January, netting four times in a string of impressive displays.
Meanwhile, Hurst believes tomorrow's crunch League One clash against Southend is more crucial to the Shrimpers than to Salop.
"People are mentioning that there's pressure on us, but there's certainly pressure on them," he said.
"Hand on heart, who need to win the game most out of both? I think Southend need to win it more than we do.
"We'd still be in a position to go to Oxford but if they lose that may be them absolutely done. "I'm not trying to shift pressure, I'm not into that."
