Shrewsbury Town analysis: Gareth Ainsworth has problems to solve after Bolton defeat

That was one of the words that Gareth Ainsworth, Town's head coach, used to describe it in his post-match interview at the weekend. 

Salop headed into the match in great form after taking seven points from the last nine available. 

But after another rapid start in Shropshire, eventually, they were overpowered and outclassed by a very experienced Bolton side. 

Steven Schumacher's team has so much quality for this level, and eventually, it told.

At the end of a demanding week, which had included trips to Rotherham and Reading, that Town managed to pick up four points from, it always looked like a challenging proposition to take on Wanderers.

Shrews, in true Ainsworth style, defied the quality of the opponents they were up against in the first half an hour. 

They secured a great deal of possession, which was surprising, and they played with confidence while looking a threat going forward. 

It was very similar to the opening at the Select Car Leasing Stadium against Reading on Tuesday night. Arguably, Town were even better in the opening exchanges at the weekend. 

That threat ended up with a first Town goal for Vadaine Oliver since his deadline-day loan switch from Bradford. 

Ainsworth keeps everybody guessing with the team that he selects, and Oliver's inclusion, after George Lloyd's injury on Tuesday night, appeared to have caught Wanderers completely by surprise as they struggled to deal with him in the opening 35 minutes.

A system change soon put pay to that as Schumacher's side finally started to get onto the front foot and assert their dominance at the back end of the first half. 

Town would have been pleased to lead at the break. They had switched to a back four for this game with George Nurse dropping out of the starting XI, and you could only say at the halfway stage that this had worked. 

But after the interval, Shrewsbury fell back into old habits by conceding three goals in a match for the first time since the middle of December. 

An element of that came down to the sheer quality the visitors had to bring off the bench. 

But it was also due to the fact Shrews had a long week, and they simply ran out of steam as Eoin Toal, and a brace from former Salop youth player John McAtee put the visitors in a commanding position.

Once that happened, Ainsworth had limited options from the bench - summed up by the fact he brought centre-back Toto Nsiala on to play up front.  

Options-wise, Town's squad is only getting slimmer at the moment as Taylor Perry became the latest injury setback for them to deal with.

One of the criticisms of Shrewsbury's January recruitment was about the numbers they had left themselves with. Several players left the Croud Meadow, and while Town did get some bodies in, they are light on squad members.

Throughout January, they did not have any injuries to contend with, but now they are missing four senior players, and it is impacting what the head coach can bring off the bench.

In the last 20 minutes on Saturday, after Town had made a host of changes themselves, it did look like boys against men.

Salop's renaissance has come about because they've managed to tighten themselves up from a defensive point of view and they have conceded just one goal, or less in each of their last 10 League One matches.

The problem for Ainsworth is as his side has added more of an attacking threat, it has taken away more of their defensive solidity.

You can bet your bottom dollar that he will most likely revert to type and to the back five that has suited him so well since he came to the football club on Tuesday night against Huddersfield.

 This run for Shrewsbury now is absolutely pivotal - five out of their next seven third-tier matches are in Shropshire, and they must stay within touching distance of 20th place. 

The clash against the Terriers is probably one that Shrewsbury's depleted squad does not want -  especially when they will have half an eye on a much more winnable game against Stevenage on Saturday - which could fit into the must-win category.

With the squad availability at the moment, it feels like Shrewsbury will almost be forced to dip into the market to bring in some reinforcements.

Ainsworth has been asked about free agents on several occasions, but he's always vague with what he wants to reveal to the press in his interviews. 

Part of that reason is because he likes to keep his opposite number guessing, which gives them situations like it did on Saturday when Bolton struggled to come to terms with the threat that Oliver would offer. 

But the same players are going to have to strap their boots back on Tuesday night and try to get something against the very good Huddersfield side.