Graham Turner eyes Shrewsbury Town FA Cup tonic

Frustrated boss Graham Turner has welcomed an FA Cup distraction after his Shrewsbury Town side suffered a stuttering New Year weekend in the promotion race.

Yesterday's 1-1 draw with a Northampton side who began the day as League Two's basement team means Shrewsbury managed just one point from two fixtures over the New Year weekend.

Town pushed hard for a winner in the second period but spurned opportunities and now find themselves four points adrift of third place Southend, who also have a game in hand.

• See pictures from Town's draw with Northampton

And with Saturday's FA Cup third round tie at Middlesbrough looming, Turner is pleased to have a break from the League programme.

"I think it's a nice distraction.

"It's been a hard programme and it's nice to get away from the rigours of League football and the demand for points," he said of the trip to the Championship promotion chasers.

"We go up there and if we really play, we can cause them problems."

Turner believes Town did enough to earn a victory against the struggling Cobblers yesterday.

"There were a lot of scrambles in their penalty area in the second half but it was one of those days where nothing fell for us and when we have had efforts we have either hit the keep or it's been blocked," he added.

"You can get strange results during the festive period but we are frustrated and disappointed.

"I don't think we could have done a lot more in the second half apart from put the ball in the back of the net."

Full back Joe Jacobson missed yesterday as he served a one match suspension after accumulating five bookings, while loan midfielder James Wallace was sidelined for the game with a thigh strain.

Turner plans negotiations with Wallace and his parent club Everton this week over whether the England under-20 ace's loan will be extended.

See also:

• Shrewsbury Town playing catch-up after disappointing Christmas
• Shrewsbury Town 1 Northampton 1