Joe 90: Jacobson ready for battle at the bottom

The former Cardiff City, Bristol Rovers, Oldham Athletic and Accrington Stanley player admits that Shrewsbury's fight against the drop this season has been the most testing of his nine-year spell as a professional.

But with Town, currently bottom of League One, entering a run of three straight games against fellow relegation rivals Stevenage, Tranmere and Crewe he is determined to make the most of what is likely to be a make-or-break run of fixtures.

Asked if this season's battle to remain in the English third-tier had been the most challenging of his career he said: "I'd say so. I have been at teams getting promotion but that kind of takes care of itself.

"You just walk into any game and you have that immediate mental state that you are going to win the game and things just go for you.

"But in this position you have to work for every little thing. Every little pass or challenge you have got to make sure it is spot on and sometimes the luck is a bit against you, so you have got to work that extra bit harder to make sure you can come through it and get the results you need.

"But these are the type of games where you as a footballer have got to step up and be counted.

"If you can't get yourself motivated for these games and try to perform to you maximum there's no point being in the job.

"We are all looking forward to the challenge because that is what is it. We are in the position we are in and we have got six games to get out of it. And there is no bigger one than tomorrow."

Jacobson has experienced previous flirtations with relegation in his career but has yet to suffer the pain of actually going down.

And the 27-year-old left-back, who helped Town gain promotion to League One two years ago, said that the prospect of having a relegation on their records has added extra motivation within the camp ahead of the visit of Graham Westley's team.

He said: "For every game you have a little bit of nerves and adrenaline and it is good but you do get that extra little feeling in your stomach for the big games, whether it is a top of the table clash or a big cup game or a game like tomorrow will be.

"It's just about how you manage those nerves. You can go under and crumble but we want everyone to come out of their shell, express themselves and play to their maximum."

"There is not one player here who doesn't believe we can get out of this and if they don't then they shouldn't be here.

"This is our profession and no one wants to have a relegation on their CV so we want to do everything we can to stay up and we believe that we can.

"I haven't got a relegation on my CV and I don't intend to get one. I have got two promotions and I have had seasons where we've had a little bit of a relegation battle, like last year when we came through it with a few games to go.

"And there is no reason we can't do the same again but we just need to concentrate tomorrow, get that win that we need and then we'll take it from there."

Town will be missing Burnley loanee Joseph Mills, who is serving a three-match ban following his dismissal in last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Walsall.