Shaun Whalley loving the feelgood factor at Shrewsbury Town

The in-form winger has spent his previous two campaigns in blue and amber battling the drop in League One since joining from Luton in 2015.

Town are currently challenging at the other end of the third tier as optimism soars through the Shrewsbury squad and supporters.

Whalley, a crowd favourite, is delighted to reward the fans after a difficult couple of years and echoed the sentiments of boss Paul Hurst, who wants to make the Town faithful proud.

He said: “Hopefully they’re buzzing. From my point of view it’s brilliant that the fans can enjoy the football.

"Obviously The last two years that I’ve been here we’ve been struggling down the bottom end, it’d be great if we could keep on winning.

“I’ve heard the gaffer say that he wants them to be proud of the team and that’s all I can hope, that they’re proud of us.

“We work hard every game and try our hardest for them, but we’ve got a lot of quality now as well. Hopefully they can enjoy it.”

Whalley and fellow winger Alex Rodman have thrived on the flanks during Town’s surge to the top.

The Merseysider turned 30 in August but has found a new lease of life as a key figure in Hurst’s attacking style, chipping in with goals and assists in the season’s early stages.

Whalley believes the attacking intent and having a flurry of talented, ball-playing team-mates, is key to the side’s momentum.

“When we’re on the ball we feel really comfortable,” he added.

“We’ve got a lot of good ball-players, it’s good when you’re a forward or wide player, you’re always getting the ball.

“I back myself to produce in games. If I’m getting the ball that many times then I’m going to be doing something right in the end.”

“Whereas if you don’t have possession and control of the game then you’re only getting it every now and then and you have to try and break from your own half.

“So far this season I’m getting a lot of the ball and it’s really good.”