Paul Hurst: Shrewsbury Town still in relegation tussle

Town headed to MK Dons today on the back of a fine run which has seen them beaten just once in eight matches.

It has been a terrific turnaround since Hurst's appointment in October when they were bottom and six points adrift of safety.

Hurst has lifted his side to 17th and four points above the drop zone going into today's games, but admits to being a little bit irked that his side are not more comfortable.

"It is looking better than it did. I know we were bottom," he said. "I feel a bit unfortunate that the form we have been in – we are still very much in it.

"It feels like we should be out of it. But because of the precarious position we were in when I first came to the football club we have still got a battle.

"There is still a long way to go.

"A couple of teams played in midweek and got points that were a bit unexpected.

"But as long as we keep picking up results, that's the most important thing. Let other clubs think 'Shrewsbury have won again or picked up another point'. We have to focus on ourselves."

Hurst was able to make changes to his squad in January with several players either coming in or departing.

Loanees Tyler Roberts and Freddie Ladapo have had a big impact up front while Toto Nsiala has impressed at the back since arriving from Hartlepool.

But Hurst admits even he is surprised how quickly fortunes have improved.

"A lot of managers ask for time. I would have probably been saying the same thing if things hadn't worked," he added.

"You want to put your own stamp on it and get your ideas across. Thankfully it's worked so far, pretty quickly.

"But we keep trying to ram the right messages down the players throats so we get the points we need to make sure we stay in the division.

"It's just a case of staying on that to the end of the season and assessing how many more changes we feel are necessary or if we have got a real nucleus of the squad we can move forward with."