Shrewsbury boss Paul Hurst: Bring on Charlton

Town's regular season ended in a 1-0 defeat to already-relegated MK Dons with an indifferent display at a buzzing Montgomery Waters Meadow, where Town fans were keen to see the players off in style ahead of the crunch clashes.

But the 46-game season comes down to 180 minutes against the Addicks, whose sixth placed finish was confirmed with a 1-0 loss at Rochdale.

Hurst, who has experienced the play-offs on a number of occasions - many with former club Grimsby Town - wants his side to strive for a similar performance as when Town shone in a 2-0 win at The Valley in February.

“We have both beaten each other before so we will prepare," said Hurst. "It looked like it was probably going to be Charlton going into today’s game and that’s how it has turned out.

“The players have got to rise to the occasion. I’m sure there will be a bigger crowd than last time but we went there and put on an excellent performance.

“That is what we have got to strive for, to give us a chance of a positive result to bring back here on Sunday.

"It will be tough, it wouldn’t have matter who we are playing. I didn’t have a preference but we know who it is now."

Hurst was relieved to have come through unscathed after the clash with Dons - who had lost six on the bounce heading into the clash.

The boss again made six changes to his starting line-up. He took Jon Nolan, Abo Eisa and Carlton Morris off in the second half, while Joe Riley and Mat Sadler took impact knocks late on but looked to come through OK.

Town missed out on a record-breaking 90 points tally with just a ninth defeat in the league this season. But the boss added that everything that has gone before them this season, including the reverse against MK, means nothing going into the Charlton ties.

He added: “I wanted to get 90 points and it hasn’t happened but it’s still been a fantastic season.

"We aren’t going to get too down. Now we go into two games to try and get into a final.

"What’s been and gone doesn’t count for anything, so today doesn’t count for anything, now we have got to give everything.

"We were alright in bits (today) but it kind of petered out in general. I thought we tried to be on the front foot more in the second half.

“Obviously there was some substitutions made that didn’t particularly help with the momentum etc. I think we came through unscathed. We would have loved to get a victory."