Dave Edwards: A disappointing year ends and Shrewsbury Town need reinforcements

The Bristol Rovers defeat was so disappointing. They had been really struggling, and made a change of manager so you knew they might get a bit of a bounce, but they are the type of matches which Town have done well in this year - playing teams down there at home and being able to grind out results.

On another day it could have been very different. I think Salop fell on the wrong end of the big moments. The first one, John Marquis with a huge chance to open the scoring. You would expect him to score. It was really unfortunate.

It was a game of nothing where it felt like one goal was going to win it, but the manner of the goals that Shrewsbury conceded were desperately poor. 

Tommy McDermott made the mistake of the header, that's unfortunate, it happens, but it's just the way things seem to be going. Then you're chasing things, confidence is low, the fans get agitated and it all plays into this horrible scenario at the end of the game where you go and concede another two, and it looks a lot worse than what the actual game was.

However, home games against teams around you, they're the ones you have to be winning, and Town will be so disappointed.

There was injuries and absences with Josh Ruffles and Tom Sang. It's a very light bench with only five substitutes, I'm never a big fan of when a manager leaves places on the bench like that. 

While there isn't the senior players to put there, it would be such an amazing experience for a young lad. Even if you know for a fact they're not going to get onto the pitch, just to be in and around the first team environment, it'll do them the world of good from an experience and confidence point of view.

You have a team who are not performing anywhere near what their ability is and that has to just come down to confidence. If you go through the Shrewsbury squad which has been assembled, I know it was light and it has been light and it needs to be added to in January, but there's still an awful lot of quality. I don't believe they are bottom end of League Two players.

Anthony Scully, who unfortunately went off, is a League One level player. Marquis has played at higher levels, George Lloyd was a very good performer in League One, Sam Clucas has played in the Premier League, McDermott has come from a Premier League team, Ruffels has played a lot higher, Anderson got promoted with Doncaster, so did Sang at Port Vale, Luca Hoole is a very defender who I think could play in League One. 

You look at those players, and there are more, it's a squad which is capable of much more than where they are. That is a confidence thing and that's what will be frustrating Michael Appleton so much. 

He feels that he is putting in the work on the training ground and he's setting the team up in the best possible way, but he's not seeing that then go out onto the pitch and turn into results. Michael Appleton has got to find a way to try and inject some confidence back into these players.

It is difficult because the attendances are starting to drop, it's a difficult place to play at home when things are going like this, and understandably as well. This is where fans voice their frustration, but the players have to be strong enough to be able to handle those situations and then play with freedom and confidence. 

Hopefully some bodies arriving in the January transfer window will help that. Iwan Morgan has come through the door, the top scorer of Brentford B last year with 25 goals, he is a goal-scorer. He is exactly what Town are missing.

A Welsh youth international as well, it's always nice to have more Welsh people in the building from my perspective. Hopefully he will make a difference. 

Other signings are needed, the squad is light, it's lacking some real star quality and a bit of resilience. Hopefully Michael Appleton can address that in the coming weeks.

They can finally take their eye off the league for a moment with the wonderful FA Cup game to look forward to at Molineux. Two of my ex-clubs going head-to-head, it will be a special game for me to go and watch. 

It's a big opportunity for Town to go and play in a stadium, an environment like that, on an unbelievable playing surface, on the TV, there are lots of incentives. Hopefully they can do well in the game and that can give them some confidence going into a huge match at home against Harrogate in League Two the following Saturday.