Pictures and analysis of Shrews 0 Brentford 0

Shrewsbury Town manager Graham Turner should be one of League One's happier managers as he gets ready to flex his muscles in the January transfer market.

New recruits at the Greenhous Meadow – and the Town boss is hoping for up to four arrivals – will be joining a side on an upward curve.

One which has done well to weather a difficult fixture list with depleted numbers to such an extent that Brentford boss Uwe Rosler was more than happy to settle for a second draw of the season against Salop.

And another goalless stalemate with the German's high-flying Bees maintained Shrewsbury's impressive record against the division's heavy-weights.

They can also boast an earlier point, drawing 1-1 with new leaders Tranmere as well as an all-square clash with Milton Keynes Dons.

That was one of three recent hard-fought 2-2 draws with top 10 opposition – the others coming against Crawley and Notts County.

With that sort of success in mind, defeats at the hands of struggling Portsmouth, Scunthorpe and Oldham stand in stark contrast and are largely the reason why Turner's men were trapped in the relegation zone at the beginning of the month.

But his players do look to have been gripped by a new-found resilience. After struggling to remain unbeaten for more than a couple of games before November, they now look like they can eke out results in adversity.

With only the narrow defeat at Oldham counting against them in the last eight games they have done well to keep their heads above water with a weakened squad.

Loanees Julian Bennett and Lee Collins have long departed, while influential midfielder Luke Summerfield and winger Mark Wright remain sidelined by injury.

The resources were threadbare enough on Saturday to see another youth teamer, Dominic Smith, make the bench with Jack Gwilliams. Summerfield's absence has been hard-felt in the middle, where Town have struggled to get a foothold.

Deputy Aaron Wildig still looks short of matching his promise with consistency and on Saturday skipper Matt Richards was not at his best.

It took the arrival of the largely out-of-favour Asa Hall to reignite the forward advance Town had mustered in a first-half they finished well on top and unfortunate not to be ahead.

While they have relied heavily on Jon Taylor for that match-winning spark, there has been a strong collective effort which has laid the foundations for a string of hard-fought draws against strong opposition.

If they can reproduce that spirit against a Coventry side buoyed by a staggering eight wins in their last 10 on New Year's Day then Town fans have good reason to believe League One survival will not be a problem this year.

After surviving an early scare when Fulham loanee Marcello Trotta turned on Clayton Donaldson's cross and shot across the face of goal, their side were by far the more adventurous.

Rob Purdie, making a rare start after Paul Parry cried off with sickness, burst clear on to a clever pass from Luke Rodgers. It was only Richard Lee's reactions which prevented the former Hereford man getting a clean strike on goal.

The Brentford goalkeeper was just as alert later in the half when denying Taylor after Purdie turned provider.

Rodgers and Darren Jones, whose header from a corner landed on the roof of the net, maintained Salop's upper hand, while Connor Goldson was close to celebrating a debut goal with a swerving stike which just missed the top corner.

But Brentford appeared to have weapons in reserve with highly-rated youngster Harry Forrester and veteran frontman Paul Hayes waiting to be unleashed from the bench.

The presence of Donaldson, too, was a nagging concern although it was hard to see the rationale for playing a striker with a recent record of seven goals in six games out on the left wing.

Town were strong and error-free at the back and it was only Trotta's skill on the ball which threatened to breach their ranks.

But goalkeeper Chris Weale was up to the task when the Italian youngster cut in from the right and drove for the far corner.

Fittingly, it was the in-form Taylor who got closest to a breakthrough at the other end after a superb interchange of passes.

Brentford were stretched to breaking point when Goldson carried the ball on into the box, but Taylor's first-time finish was headed off the line by some smart defending from Harlee Dean.

The Bees threatened a deadly sting when finishing more adventurously with two up front.

But Forrester's dipping shot which cleared the bar was the only real heart-stopping moment Town had to endure before closing in on a well-deserved point.

By Gwyn Griffiths