The verdict: Shrewsbury Town are not happy travellers - but that is not the biggest worry

Eleven days after their EFL Cup battering by the Cods on the Fylde Coast, Shrewsbury Town were back and left with the same old problem - goals remain as elusive as ever.

It was the biggest improvement needed after their struggles last season. Yet five games into the new campaign, with the summer transfer window closed, it is difficult to argue the problem has been solved.

Saturday was a far cry from the drubbing at Highbury less than two weeks before, while there were clear improvements from the midweek defeat at Rochdale. Yet Town left Fleetwood with a familiar feeling, ending the weekend in the bottom two of League Two - a position the club and its supporters have become all too familiar with in recent years.

You would forgive Town’s players for going to sleep with the Captain Pugwash theme tune ringing in their ears by now. They have heard it six times across their two visits to Fleetwood, and while it has become a familiar soundtrack to Shrewsbury’s trips here, the results have been rather less amusing.

The numbers are increasingly difficult to ignore. Ten goals conceded in five league games, with only two scored. That is a worrying return for a side hoping to compete higher up the table.

They are also winless and scoreless on the road this season. Shrewsbury are certainly not happy travellers.

Defensively, Town kept clear-cut chances to a minimum. But once again, they were undone by costly errors and moments that went against them.

Going forward, there was little to speak of. Another game, another opposition goalkeeper barely called upon. This time Jay Lynch enjoyed a largely untroubled afternoon between the posts.

Josh Davison arrived at Shrewsbury after a difficult few years in front of goal and had started this season with signs that he might finally be putting that spell behind him. But the games since have offered the striker little encouragement.

His endeavour and work rate cannot be questioned, but chances were at a premium again. When one arrived early on, Davison could only shoot straight at Lynch - the goalkeeper’s most meaningful involvement of the afternoon.

Behind him, Kian McMahon-Brown was handed his first start in the number 10 role, with plenty of anticipation surrounding what the Burnley loanee could offer. There were flashes of his ability on the ball, but the end product was lacking, with an effort shortly afterwards sailing over the crossbar.

That was the recurring problem. Shrewsbury could frustrate Fleetwood with their shape, forcing the hosts to go long during the opening stages, but offered so little threat themselves that there was always a nagging doubt about what would happen if they fell behind.

That proved prescient just before half-time. Will Brook held onto the ball for too long, conceding a corner, and Town were punished from the resulting set-piece.

The delivery found the back post, where Shrewsbury were beaten and the ball was nodded across goal to the unmarked Ronan Coughlan, who finished.

Gavin Cowan was furious, with the Shrewsbury dugout appealing for a foul on Davison as the ball was headed back across goal. But whether the officials got that decision right or wrong, the more troubling issue was what followed: once behind, Shrewsbury lacked the attacking spark to suggest they could find a way back.

After the break came further frustration when Arkell Jude-Boyd went down under a challenge from behind inside the area, but no penalty was forthcoming.

Town had plenty of possession in the second half but again did little with it. They knocked on the door, albeit so quietly you would barely have heard it, while at the other end they left their own door open late on.

Luca Hoole was beaten too easily on the byline, Aaron Loupalo-Bi was left unmarked inside the area, and his deflected effort found the net to sum up another frustrating afternoon for Shrewsbury.

And so the early warning signs are now becoming harder to dismiss. There has been a recurring theme throughout the opening weeks: a lack of goals and, more pertinently, a lack of cutting edge.

It was evident on the opening day at Tranmere Rovers, the same against Barnet, again at Rochdale and now at Fleetwood, again.

Five games do not define a season, but Shrewsbury need to find their attacking voice - and quickly.

They have heard the Captain Pugwash theme tune often enough at Fleetwood. The challenge now is to ensure the next soundtrack to their season is a happier one - Town need to start making some noise of their own.