Midfield pair hold the key for Shrewsbury Town, says injured Dave McAllister
Shrewsbury Town midfielder Dave McAllister says he is gutted at having to sit out the final chapter in Town's fight against relegation because of an ankle injury.
But the Irishman is hoping that the returns of fellow middle men Aaron Wildig and Luke Summerfield will help Town stay up.
They have been sidelined with thigh injuries, but Wildig returned to action last month and Summerfield came back against Tranmere last weekend.
Both performed well in their first outing together as a central midfield unit since New Year's Day.
And McAllister hopes they can quickly recapture their early-season form.
He said: "The two of them have had a great season up until they got their injuries.
"The timing of my injury is very disappointing for me, because it is crunch time in our season in terms of our survival chances.
"But hopefully they will kick on for the last few games for us and we can try and stay up."
McAllister's injury, confirmed by a scan this week, will see him miss today's home clash with Crewe Alexandra and the games against Preston North End, Peterborough United and Gillingham.
He had originally suffered a knock in Town's 2-1 win against Bradford City last month and missed subsequent games against Carlisle, Walsall and Stevenage.
He suffered a setback last week which has curtailed his campaign. McAllister has played 29 games this season, scoring once.
Wildig, meanwhile, is relishing the challenge of keeping Town in League One and is urging his team mates to embrace the challenge.
He said: "We've got to try and enjoy it as much as we can. They're big pressure games, but at the same time if you come out of it the right way then it's a great way to finish the season."