Shrewsbury Town urged to handle promotion nerves

Boss Graham Turner has urged his Shrewsbury Town side to ditch the nerves and relax as the promotion pressure cranks up a further notch tonight.

Oxford head to the Greenhous Meadow for the latest top-of-the-table tussle between two sides in League Two's leading seven.

Last night's goalless draw between Southend and Crawley has handed Town the perfect incentive for victory this evening – a return to the automatic promotion places. And Turner has urged his side to remain calm as tension mounts during the run-in.

"One of the things they (the players) put down that detracted from a performance against Crawley (last week) was that one or two felt a bit nervous," said Turner.

"Whether it was the presence of the television cameras or a top-of-the-table clash, I don't know.

"But we have to be able to deal with any signs of nervousness.

"It's OK to be a bit tense before games and a few butterflies does not do any harm.

"But once they cross that white line, they have to be able to relax.

"You can't play if you're uptight or nervous so we hope that is out of the way with the Crawley game and they are able to deal with Oxford, Burton and any other game that is full of expectation between now and the end of the season."

Shrewsbury's 24-game unbeaten home sequence goes on the line against an Oxford side who have climbed to seventh in the table on the back of their own run of just one defeat in 14 games and no away loss since the end of November.

"Oxford are a good side and that's why they beat Swindon at the weekend when they were down to 10 men after 10 minutes," added Turner.

"They will be difficult to break down, organised and competitive and that applies to the vast majority of sides in League Two.

"We know what to expect, we have got to deal with it.

"But we can play with a lot of belief at home with where we are in the league and how we have been going recently."

Full-back Joe Jacobson will be absent again tonight with a groin problem so Preston loanee Conor McLaughlin should be handed a home debut.

See also:

• Crewe 1 Shrewsbury Town 1 – Match analysis
• Marvin Morgan makes positive point for Shrewsbury Town
• Pressure starts to tell in League Two promotion race