Paul Hurst hopes Shrewsbury can take inspiration from Leicester and Burton fairytales

The Brewers became the lowest point scorers to achieve automatic promotion from League One under its current guise three seasons ago, while the Foxes memorably lifted the Premier League under Claudio Ranieri.

Hurst admitted he has had his odds-defying high-flying Town team compared to Burton, who were promoted as runners-up with 85 points.

As Shrews battle for automatic promotion with Wigan and Blackburn, the boss acknowledges that budgets generally call the shots on league positions – but wants his squad to buck that trend.

“Someone said the other week that we reminded them of Burton,” said Hurst. “In terms of an athleticism to us, being hard to beat.

“I didn’t watch an awful lot of that team but I didn’t have to to take that as a compliment.

“They got promoted. And they’ve managed to stay up a season and are still fighting for their lives this season to stay in that Championship, which would be some achievement in itself.”

When asked if Shrewsbury can take belief from Burton, Hurst answered: “Yes – and they’re the ones from the league we’re in.

“The biggest one – certainly in recent history, and some people have said of all time – is Leicester.

“I’d be the first to admit that when watching it I was thinking ‘it’s going to stop, it’ll stop’. And it’s an absolutely amazing achievement that they accomplished.

“You only have to look at the league table. In general, At the end of the season more often than not, you will find most teams are where they’d expect to be in terms of budgets. There are always a couple that aren’t but a majority are. We’re obviously trying to buck that trend and be one of the ones that standout for different reasons.”