Allegations of players being on the beach already could hardly justifiably be thrown at Shrewsbury Town despite their midtable positioning with just a couple of weeks of the season remaining.
The Shrews have claimed ten points from their last six matches in Sky Bet League One table – and it would have been 11 but for conceding a last gasp winner against Sunderland on Good Friday.
Steve Cotterill’s side mounted their good run of form in March to ensure any lingering fears of relegation were banished for another term.
Their recent run saw them draw at home to Ipswich Town before a three match sequence of wins without conceding against Lincoln City, Rotherham United and Morecambe.
After their impressive run to survival last term under Cotterill, this season has been inconsistent from the Shrews but they have timed their form well to ensure they would have little to worry about at the business end of the campaign.
Taking 11 points from a possible 18 in March was the clincher and all of the points in the month came with a clean sheet for Salop. The run included wins over promotion chasing MK Dons, Ipswich Town and Sunderland.
They prepare to welcome Rovers to the Montgomery Waters Meadow sitting 17th in the table on 49 points with an 11 point cushion from the drop zone.
As well as maintaining their third tier status, this season also brought Emirates FA Cup memories with a clash against Liverpool at Anfield in which a Daniel Udoh goal put them ahead.
Their last ten league fixtures brought four wins and three draws. Stretching the run to the last 15 brings a record of four wins and six draws.
Home form has been a strong suit for the Shrews with ten of their 15 wins this season coming at Montgomery Waters Meadow, with seven draws coming as part of their home record.
They have also been defensively sound at times with 14 clean sheets, including six goalless draws. They have been shut out on 12 occasions.
Cotterill could be without Elliott Bennett for the visit of Rovers after the midfielder left Friday’s match at Sunderland in a protective boot. Bennett has featured 47 times for Shrewsbury this season, contributing two goals and six assists.
Shrewsbury have a decent recent record against Rovers with five wins in the last 11 meetings between the two sides.
Rovers took the reverse fixture 1-0 in December, with a goal from Joseph Olowu helping Gary McSheffrey pick up the first win of his tenure as manager.
In the last seven meetings, the team winning kept a clean sheet in the fixture.
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