Paul Hurst wants his Shrewsbury players to follow skipper Abu Ogogo's lead

Hurst gave the damning verdict on the performance of some of his squad after last night's 1-1 Montgomery Waters Meadow draw with Gillingham which left second-placed Shrewsbury without a home win in four league games.

Town led for much of the game through Ogogo's early strike but were pegged back nine minutes from time. Hurst felt his players looked on edge and low on confidence.

But he heaped praise on the 'standout' midfielder, whose last-gasp strike was also cleared off the line as Town hunted for a winner, and wants others to follow suit.

"It (the goal) was a great finish and he had a shot at the end unfortunately at the man on the post," said Hurst. "It was a fantastic strike. I wish it had have been slightly to the side and gone in or hit their man and gone in.

"I think he was our standout performer – again.

"We spoke about the requirement of being men at this stage of the season and he stands out because that's what he is.

"I think back to speaking about him at West Ham. It doesn't matter who he's playing against. He's not going to be in awe of anyone or approach any differently.

"You know exactly what you're going to get. Some days he'll be better than others but I know exactly what he's going to give me.

"I think we need a few lads to try and follow suit."

Hurst was forced to switch to a 3-4-2-1 system last night as illness struck leaving Jon Nolan, Bryn Morris and Arthur Gnahoua sidelined.

There was no place in the starting XI for club captain Mat Sadler and Hurst explained that the decision was tactical and owing to recent poor form.

But the boss added that Sadler was not alone and that he would rather have fewer selection headaches with more members of his squad pushing to be considered automatic starters.

"I thought the other three (Omar Beckles, Toto Nsiala and James Bolton) were better to go," he added.

"As I've said before, because he's experienced and club captain does not make him immune from not being in the team.

"I don't think his performances have been up to the standard of earlier in the season and he's not on his own there by any stretch.

"Abs, just because he wears the captain's armband, will come out the team if I don't think he's good enough.

"At the minute he's standing out so he stays in the team."

Hurst continued: "Some others are treading on eggshells a little bit.

"What I'd like to do is not have as much thought process on the team at this moment in time but that's where I feel I'm at.

"That's my job, to pick the right team, but often as a manager you want that bit of help that eight or nine of them are absolutely in the team.

"At the minute we're not quite getting that."