Embrace it and be inspired, Paul Hurst's message to Shrewsbury Town players ahead of biggest game of their careers

Town kick off their League One play-off semi-final at The Valley tonight as Hurst’s underdogs aim to extend their remarkable campaign to a Wembley showpiece final shootout for the Championship.

Hurst, entering his seventh play-off battle but his first in the Football League, has called the game the biggest of his managerial career and says the same could be said for his players, many of whom were plucked from further down the football pyramid.

Ahead of the crunch clashes, Hurst, who has been favourite to replace Mick McCarthy as boss at Ipswich Town, has seen his odds for the Portman Road hotseat slashed to odds-on.

But all focus tonight will be on getting a result to set Town up for the second leg on Sunday.

“No matter how we dress it up it’s a big game of football,” said the Town chief.

“The game is on national TV, we’re not perhaps too used to that attention and focus.

“You hope it inspires you, of course. If you’re going to get a team in the play-off and you get Charlton, one thing you should enjoy is a big crowd.

“We’ve got to embrace that. We’ve played in front of a few big crowds. Most of the time we’ve handled it well and fingers crossed for another performance we can be proud of.”

Hurst hopes a passionate Shrewsbury backing, similar to atmospheres at recent games against Blackpool and MK Dons, will roar his side over the line.

He added: “All of us need to strike that balance between understanding it’s been a great season no matter what but at the same time really hoping and giving everything to make a really special end.

“We want to make it an even better season that it has been.

“It’s about these two games initially. One team will go on to have one more massive effort to try and get promoted. We’d like that to be us.”

Hurst has rested several of his key players in recent weeks for the Addicks double-header, but is wary what an emotional drain the play-offs can cause.

“What we will struggle to factor in is the emotional drain of it. One the season and two that play-offs are big games,” he continued.

“We’ve spoke before about Wembley, about how the pitch is massive and people get tired and cramp – a lot of it is because of the emotional aspect of it.

“You tire quicker because of the build-up rather than any physical exertion on the pitch. That’s difficult to monitor or even guess on.

“I believe they’ve got performances in them still. Time will tell I guess.”