Shrewsbury town skipper buoyed by Aaron Wildig news

Wildig is set for a spell of six-eight weeks on the sidelines after suffering bone bruising during Town's 1-0 home win against Notts County 10 days ago.

It had initially been feared he had torn his posterior cruciate ligament which would have seen him out of action for several month, but scans later revealed only bruising.

Mkandawire said: "It's a relief that it is not as bad as we first thought. It was a horrible tackle so in many respects he is lucky that it is only eight weeks.

"But he has been a big player for us. He is a very talented young player. We wish him all the best and we will be glad to see him back as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, the team coped admirably in his absence on Saturday, grabbing their first away win of the season at Stevenage.

Mkandawire was delighted with the display of new loan signing Tom Eaves, who grabbed Town's second goal in the 3-1 victory and had a hand in the third.

And he believes there is more to come from the young Bolton Wanderers striker, who will remain at the Greenhous Meadow until January.

He said: "Tom is a big lad and it was always going to be a very physical game on Saturday. He did well, put himself about, held the ball up and showed some great feet as well. He will be a big player for us in the future."

Mkandawire added that Town's finishing, which has sometimes let them down on the road this season, had been one of the key factors in their latest win.

"We have had some good performances away from home this season and not quite got the results," he said. "On Saturday, maybe we had that bit of luck in front of goal but we have taken out chances where possibly in other away performances we have maybe not had that luck in front of goal.

"But we were generally sound defensively and we killed the game off which was good."