Shrewsbury Town v Huddersfield preview: Is Gareth Ainsworth pondering a formation tweak?

The downside is another game in quick succession, and it comes against one of the division's top sides in Huddersfield Town.

Salop gave a decent account of themselves in west Yorkshire earlier in the campaign, but they did fall to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Michael Duff's Terriers side. 

That was back in August, and so much has changed since then. 

Shrewsbury are four points from safety heading into this clash, and they could close the gap to 20th-placed Peterborough to one point and a place with a victory. 

For that to happen, they would need Crawley to lose or draw their clash at home against Wigan. 

At one stage on Saturday, when Posh were losing and Town were beating Bolton, they were level on points with the team above the drop zone. 

But the results changed, and Salop are more than a win away from safety. 

Ainsworth says his team have to look at that and take confidence in how far they have come since he took over in Shropshire. 

"The boys have to look at it and think how well they've done," the head coach said. "They've got to understand that when I walked in, it wasn't just the points total they had or how far adrift they were.

"It was in a bad way. Morale and everything was low, and it seemed like there was no way out of this. 

"The fact that at one stage on Saturday, we were level on the safety total that's brilliant.

"They've given everything, and I need it again for my next half of the games, but to say that is awesome. 

"After what we have been through, that is fantastic, and it's a testament to how good these lot are and what they can achieve."

The Shrews head coach went away from the back five he had used so much during his tenure at Shrewsbury, and switched to a back four on Saturday. 

He will now need to evaluate the success of that before deciding which formation he will go with against Duff's side. 

"I thought attacking-wise in that first half one of the best I've seen this season," he said. "The way we kept the ball, the way we hurt Bolton - who are a really good side. 

"The science comes into it, where we look at what (playing a different formation) does to the legs.

"We did look like we exerted a lot of energy in all that first half going forward. 

"But then again, as I said in the second half, we did look a little bit tired, and whether that was Bolton with some of their changes stepping onto us or us looking tired, I'll have to have a look.

"I think that what's going to be important now is definitely just making sure that we can replicate week after week, game after game, the standards that we've set over the past 10 games."

If Aaron Pierre is available, which he could well be after recovering from injury, then that might lead Ainsworth to switch back to a back five - he likes the experienced defender.