Shrewsbury will fight to keep supporters dreaming, says Paul Hurst

Shrewsbury fell to just a fourth league defeat at the season as rivals Blackburn secured a 3-1 Ewood Park victory, cutting the gap to second-placed Town to two points.

Hurst's men were roared on by 1,387 supporters, the second-largest away following of their season, but two second-half goals from the hosts meant Town left empty-handed.

Supporters showed their appreciation by applauding off Town's battlers, who lost for the first time in 10 games in all competitions. Boss Hurst is wary of their pride and grateful for the important backing.

"I think they're proud of the team as I think they should be," said Hurst.

"When I joined the club, there were some die-hards but from seeing the support at Southend in my first game and moving forward we've had some decent followings but could only dream of something like that.

"That's fantastic. There's another big following tomorrow night going to West Ham.

"We're going to need them for the rest of the season. We want them to try and back the players and drive them on particularly when things aren't going well.

"On Saturday they certainly did that. They played their part it was just a shame we couldn't send them home happy."

Town rallied after a sluggish start and fired a deserved equaliser through Jon Nolan from the penalty spot and looked likely to edge ahead before a Rovers' double after the hour mark.

Charlton were the only other top 10 side to secure victory in League One, meaning Shrewsbury did not lose much ground on their promotion rivals.

Hurst added: "It wouldn't be unusual to have a few results we don't want. If we get them we get them.

"All the team and everyone has done is massively raised expectation and got people dreaming. If it ends up fading away then so be it, but we will do everything we can to try and cling on to that and keep the supporters right behind us – keep them dreaming.

"It certainly wasn't overly one-sided, I genuinely don't think we were out-played but Blackburn did some parts of the game better than us.

"I haven't come away thinking we've been battered. All we can do is move on and it's a good one to look forward to."