Dave Edwards: Performances are proving Shrewsbury Town can turn this around

Off the back of the second half against Stockport, which after an impressive first period where they were very unlucky not to go in front and then even found themselves trailing at the break, it was pretty dismal.

I would say against Stockport, Paul Hurst would not have been happy with that from a creativity point of view. Heading to Bolton if they could get anything from that game it was going to be a huge positive. With the way it played out, everyone is probably slightly disappointed, but it is an excellent point.

I have been saying for quite a few weeks, that although results have not been there, I do feel like there is a lot of optimism in terms of where the team looks like it is going and how much it looks like it is improving. With the current situation with budget and where Town find themselves, so many people are writing off their chances of staying in the league.

But I have seen enough in recent weeks, which gives me hope they can not only get out of that relegation zone but they can push on a little bit. Anything above that dotted line will be a huge success this year but I do feel like they could get on a bit of a run.

It was brave from Paul Hurst to change the shape and he went very experienced. He probably knew they were going to spend a lot of time without the ball, with the way Bolton play and their ambitions this season.

He went for experience and he spoke about tactical discipline after the game and I think that was the reason why. You cannot have players switching off when you have not got the ball for long spells.

This is more likely to happen with younger players in the team just because they probably have not played enough football and you learn that tactical side of the game over time.

I thought the change of shape really helped the team, and I thought it helped George Lloyd in particular because he had John Marquis up there with him.

A lot of times in recent weeks he has been very isolated and it forces Shrews to defend deeper because they cannot get hold of the ball.

The three midfielders got to naturally play higher up the pitch, and Morgan Feeney and Josh Feeney looked comfortable with the ball in full-back areas as they have to be as the outside centre-backs in a back three.

All the lads who came in did really well, but Jordan Shipley in particular did a job on Josh Sheehan who is the Bolton playmaker who makes them tick.

It was great for Josh Feeney to get his first goal and they were very very good from set pieces in that first half.

Unfortunately the timing of Bolton’s first goal just after half-time changes the momentum straight away. It looked like it could have been offside from the footage I have seen but it is not going Shrewsbury’s way at the moment. After that, it was backs to the wall and they managed to hold on for a point which is a positive.

I am hopeful about Town’s prospects with the way this team is gelling and with the players they have on the bench that can only be a positive. It will now be really interesting to see what the Shrewsbury boss chooses to do tonight as they have another game against Birmingham City in the EFL Trophy.

I am sure Hurst has an eye on a huge game against Crawley.