Shrewsbury Town v Fleetwood - Match preview

The defeat led to loud boos and shouts of discontent from the fan base at full-time as they were, rightly so, unhappy with what they had seen.

Shrewsbury’s lack of goals – which is the joint lowest in the league with 14 – is starting to catch up with them as each time they fall behind it looks an awfully long way back.

Only in the 3-2 win against Reading at the beginning of November have they come from behind to win in a League One fixture.

And they now appear to have lost the resoluteness they had during the early parts of the season which enabled them to keep clean sheets and register five 1-0 victories.

That is not helped by the fact the last three goals they have conceded have been from set plays which is something you would argue is something that can be controlled.

And when asked about Town’s problems defending in their own box, the head coach said the players have jobs to do from dead-ball scenarios.

“People get given jobs to do and they don’t do it. So do your job, it is really simple,” Taylor said. “We are stood in the technical area, and we cannot affect it. You are given a man to mark, so mark your man. If a player goes onto the pitch and they do not understand the information they are given I will take that, and I will accept that.

“Every player knows in innate detail where their man goes. What number he wears, what he looks like... so mark your man.

“We did not do it again Friday night at Burton, and it punishes you. We concede that goal, but you cannot tell me we weren’t the better team in terms of creating chances and putting the opposition under pressure. But when the ball goes into their box you have to show a bit of calmness and put the ball into the back of the net.

“I will take all the heat no problems, but now the players have got to step up.

“It is quite simple, we are not asking them to do anything they haven’t done, there needs to be some responsibility on them, but ultimately the main responsibility is on me so I have no problems with that.”

Earlier in the campaign, it looked as if Town were trying to keep the ball and play progressively, but the longer the season has gone on that seems to have gone by the wayside.

At the moment they are very direct, hitting balls up to Ryan Bowman, Max Mata or Dan Udoh just hoping that they stick. Sadly, that is just not working.

The reason for this may be because their best footballers, like Tom Bayliss, have been out injured for quite some time, but whatever it is, the goal record is not up to the standard required.

They have scored in just 15 of their 25 League One games which is a terrible record, and with the players they have at their disposal, it is not good enough.

The news before kick-off on Friday that Dan Udoh is going to be out for six weeks is not helpful either and neither is the news Carl Winchester has a minor calf strain and may not be fit for Fleetwood.

They have their own problems to contend with as manager Lee Johnson left the club on Saturday, replaced by Charlie Adam yesterday.