Shrewsbury v Burton preview: Limbo season begins for Salop

Shrewsbury Town head into the clash with Burton Albion this weekend, one of their relegation rivals, 11 points from safety with just 30 left to claim this season. 

Last time out it was a really disappointing defeat for Ainsworth’s team as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Exeter in Devon. 

Speaking before this weekend’s clash, he defiantly said ‘not a chance’ when discussing whether his side’s fate had been confirmed - but what else can he say? 

The boss must continue to believe survival is possible until it is mathematically confirmed. Yet, he once again reinforced how difficult last weekend’s result against the Grecians was. 

“It really knocked the stuffing out of me,” he said. “I think it was Jamal (Blackman) saving that penalty, and I think probably like every Shrewsbury fan, I thought this is our day. 

“Then we conceded from the corner, and it knocked the stuffing out of me. I was finding it hard to get excited on the touchline. 

“It was probably one of our worst performances under me, I don’t think we were very good going forward, and I do not think we troubled them enough.” 

Looking ahead to this clash, he believes his side must focus on producing an improved display. 

“I don’t worry about the result,” he said. “It will be a by-product of our performance, our commitment, our desire and our belief. If I see all those things, I will be happy - we all know results can go one way or the other.” 

“The Burton game earlier in the season was the last league game before I came in. I remember watching it, and we need to do better against Burton this time around.”

Shrewsbury will have defender Aaron Pierre back in their matchday squad for this match. He has not played for the last two weeks. The 32-year-old picked up his 10th yellow card of the season at Peterborough and had to serve a two-match suspension. 

John Marquis, who has worn the armband since Carl Winchester’s departure in January, will serve the final game of his suspension - he was sent off 13 seconds into that game at Posh. 

With the game against Reading called off next week, the Salop striker will have gone almost a month without kicking a ball in competitive action by the time he returns to the squad against Birmingham City. 

The visitors have lost their last two League One matches. Those defeats came away at Wycombe, who are aiming for automatic promotion, and at home against Bolton, who have improved since Steven Schumacher came in as boss. 

Before that, the Brewers had been in brilliant form under Gary Bowyer, they had won five out of their 10 previous matches - losing just one. That was the reason they had climbed from the depths of the third-tier table to within touching distance of 20th place. 

The last two defeats, along with results elsewhere going against them, have really hampered their chances.