Bernard McNally: Shrewsbury Town have substance to go with their style

Saturday’s determined victory against a resilient Fleetwood just shows that Paul Hurst’s team have got it in them to go right to the final whistle.

That shows a strength they’ve acquired over the past year under the manager.

Toto Nsiala got the winner and he’s one of so many players that are catching the eye. When you have a group of players like that, a collective, the club is really making strides forward.

We’re looking a great side and hopefully that can continue. There’s only Manchester City that haven’t been beaten yet – alongside Town – and that’s great company.

The confidence must be sky-high, it’s really exciting. Town played like Pep Guardiola’s side against Bristol Rovers last week.

But they put to rest a real bogey side for Paul, having not won in any of the four meetings with Fleetwood last season.

Teams are now saying, ‘hang on – we thought it was just a flash in the pan after five or six games’. But Town are proving to be so consistent. The staff and players must be starting to think that it could be a great, great season.

Paul doesn’t like looking at tables but maybe he should start!

I know the manager will get them down to earth, keeping their feet on the ground.

This side have got it in them to play certain styles against certain teams – they’ve turned on the style at times quite often this season.

But sometimes it’s about rolling those sleeves up, digging in and getting results. At the moment it’s a winning combination.

Sometimes you have to win ugly.

The gap from leaders Town to third place is 10 points. It’s incredible. If it stays the same in five games then it could be a tremendous season.

They can match Fred Davies’s title-winning team of 1993/1994 in making it a 16-game unbeaten Football League run at Peterborough. Players like Tommy Lynch, Dean Spink, Paul Evans and Mickey Brown.

They’re setting trends and setting new records, hopefully we are watching the side that goes even further.

We don’t want to look too far ahead, but I think this will be a time that people will remember in 10 years and say ‘do you remember that side?’ These players could become real household names within Shrewsbury for years to come. They could be fondly and tremendously remembered and create real legacies for themselves.

Paul takes his side to Posh where the hosts have slipped following a fine start. They’re down in 10th and haven’t won for a month.

Town took points from their two previous trips to Walsall and Plymouth. They could be valuable at the end of the season – but the onus will be on the home side and Town can take the game to them.