Key Shrewsbury decisions put on hold

Ordinarily, you would expect clubs to have some conversations about plans for next season before the current season is over but Hurst feels Shrewsbury need to find out what division they will be playing in first.

“I think the reality is we are not in those conversations as such,” the boss said.

“I think we have got to find out where we are in the league, first and foremost.

“That is obvious for any football club – we need to find out if we are going to be a League One football club.

“That is not being negative but I have got the feeling a little bit that on the back of some results we had a couple of weeks back, as though it is job done.

“In my eyes, it is far from that. With our fixture list, I am conscious of that, we have got some very tough games, ones that we should look forward to because it is good to test yourself against good teams but there is still a lot of work to do.

“So I think that is being put on the back-burner until such time.”

Meanwhile, the Town boss has delivered an update on the fitness of winger Rayhaan Tulloch after the former West Brom man missed Town’s last two games with a groin injury.

“Rayhaan has a problem with his groin,” he added. “The day before the Oxford game, he thought he was going to be alright.

“But he tried to join in and it was apparent very quickly in terms of a warm-up that he was not right, so he has been unavailable.

“In theory, it does not look like anything too bad. We will see if he can train before Pompey.”

Salop have five games left to get enough points on the board to ensure they are a League One outfit next term, but it is not going to be easy with a difficult run of fixtures coming up.

The clash on the South Coast with Portsmouth is followed by Wycombe’s trip to Shropshire before trips to Bolton and Charlton.

Four points from those matches and the final game of the season against Leyton Orient should see them safe.