Shrewsbury Town stay positive in race for top three

Buoyant boss Graham Turner has vowed his Shrewsbury Town side will be brimming with positive intent in tonight's League Two clash of the night at Swindon.

Town head to the County Ground for the first time since 2007 riding on the crest of a wave after five victories from their last six outings.

Swindon's form has been similarly emphatic but Turner insists his side's strategy will not be affected by going head-to-head with the red-hot favourites to lift the title.

"The important thing is to impose ourselves on any team," said Turner.

"We have to have that inner belief that we are good enough to match or beat all the teams around us. The philosophy will be the same.

"We have to go to Swindon with a positive attitude, with the belief we can win it and then if we perform well, there's a good chance we will."

Both tonight's clash with Swindon and Monday's visit of Crawley will be seen as crucial indicators in the race for automatic promotion.

But Turner insists nothing will be decided in the coming six days.

"There's three points at stake tonight and another three points next Monday," he added.

"The total of points won't change that much, maybe mid 80s will get promoted and that has to be the target.

"It would be nice to think we could take them off Swindon and Crawley, our fellow promotion contenders.

"But in the end, you just have to accumulate that 80-odd points target and how you do it doesn't matter."

While Turner has identified that "mid 80s" target for a top three finish, he admits the make-up of the League Two promotion race this season makes predictions difficult.

"It could be a record amount is required, certainly to win it," he added.

"It's a distinct possibility the way six teams have broken away from the pack. I've never known this before and it's continuing to be tight at the top.

"The one thing about it is we have opened up quite a big gap (12 points) between ourselves and the teams just outside the play-offs.

"The first thing we've got to do is secure a play-off place and the quicker we do that the better.

"We can then look beyond play-offs and hope to finish in the top three."

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