‘Enjoy every minute – it can change in a flash’, says Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst

While Hurst heaped praise on his side’s 11-game unbeaten run, the first time in 42 years Town have gone on such a stint in the third tier or higher, he warned that patches of form can be dangerous.

But he cited several factors, including general quality, fitness, togetherness and the club’s Sundorne Castle training base, as key factors behind Town’s winning habit.

“I want the winning habit to continue for as long as possible because it can go the other way,” said the Town boss.

“It’s amazing how many times you get on runs and it’s hard to get out of either way. Obviously if it’s a winning run then it’s great that you can’t get out of it!”

The former Grimsby manager summarised: “People keep saying ‘what’s the difference from last season?’

“Last year, from us coming in, if we’d have carried it (the form) on and took the first 15 games away, we would’ve finished on 60-odd points.

“Some things had started to take shape already. We then added to that a group of players that are my squad now, I think they’re better players, we’ve added to the fitness, the togetherness, having the training ground – all these things contribute.

“But ultimately it’s about what they do when they cross that white line.

“That’s why I’m more than happy to keep giving them all the credit. And all of the supporters are certainly getting right behind them.”

Hurst reiterated that his side will not take their foot off the gas. “The players know they’ve got to perform. They get that from myself and Doigy (Chris Doig) in particular that we won’t slacken off on them, because they’ve shown what they can achieve when they’re at it – that’s great for us as staff to say ‘look, this is what’s happening, we’re doing great’.”

“But if you take your foot off that and it’d soon change.”