Shrewsbury missed out on a striker for Bury

The Town boss had agreed a loan deal with a club to bring in a striker in time for the Shakers' clash. But the player backed out of the the move last Friday afternoon, leaving Turner without a recognised frontman on his bench.

"I was as close as I could have been, but in the end the player decided he didn't want to come," said Turner. "We'd agreed with his club and it all looked set up. You get these near misses and disappointments."

Since the flurry of transfer activity earlier in the month when David McAllister, Stephen McGinn and Yado Mambo were added to the Salop squad, Turner has endured a frustrating time trying to land a proven frontman.

Town have been linked with Northern Ireland goal-machine Liam Boyce, although his club Cliftonville are reluctant to part with him.

And a raft of inexperienced young strikers, who have been available on loan, have failed to convince Turner they could improve Town's strike rate.

"We might have set the bar too high as there were certainly players available we could have brought in," said Turner. "Whether they would have improved us was another matter, so we've tried to be selective.

"We've got until Thursday and seven days after that the emergency loan window opens, but it is obvious we need strengthening. But the criteria is that anybody who comes in has got to improve the team."

Tom Bradshaw – handed a second consecutive start alongside Marvin Morgan – struggled to make an impact and was hauled off in the closing stages.

But Turner stressed: "Tom worked hard and contributed once or twice to the movement by keeping the ball. He's certainly made an impact when he's come on as a substitute previously, but we didn't look like scoring and that was the reason for the changes.

"Bury are all right. We had the same problems with Hartlepool at home as they were well-organised too. People just assume we'll take the three points from these games, but Bury have been to Milton Keynes Dons and got a draw."