Turner targets a clear round

Tom Bradshaw celebrates.

IT’S Johnstone’s Paint Trophy time again.

And while some managers may not be overly-concerned if their team tumbles at the first hurdle, Shrewsbury boss Graham Turner is 100 per-cent focused on securing victory tonight at the Greenhous Meadow.

Athletic’s Northern section first-round opponents are in good nick in Sky Bet League One so far this term.

The Shrews are unbeaten in their last three games, and have lost just once in the league, away at leaders Leyton Orient.

Turner is clearly hoping to keep the trend going tonight as he looks to progress in the competition.

The Shrews boss said: “Of course we want to progress in it (the JPT).

“We’ve had a couple of seasons where our cup results have not been good enough and we would like to progress.

“It’s a good competition, particularly when you get to the later rounds, but to get there you’ve got to win the early ones, so we’ll put out as strong a side as we can against Oldham.”

Tonight’s Shropshire hosts sit one place below Athletic in 14th in the League One table.

They have six points, having won one and drawn three gams so far, as opposed to Athletic’s two wins and three reverses.

After beating Swindon 2-0, the Shrews have since extended their unbeaten sequence to three thanks to draws at Rotherham and at home to Coventry City at the weekend.

The man in form is striker Tom Bradshaw who has scored in each of those last three games, but a big boost came last Thursday when attacking midfielder Curtis Main agreed to join the club on loan from Championship big guns Middlesbrough.

Main made an immediate impact when coming on as a substitute against Coventry, sending over a perfectly-weighted cross for Bradshaw, who slid home the equaliser.

Last season’s two League One fixtures between Shrewsbury and Athletic both ended in 1-0 victories for the home side.

Tonight’s clash, which kicks-off at 7.30pm, promises to be just as tight.