SO here we are, looking ahead to what will be one of our hardest games of the season against Shrewsbury at Rodney Parade today.

I feel that Shrewsbury are the benchmark of this division, something I’ve been saying since the start of the campaign and for me, they are the strongest club.

If you are chasing League Two promotion and you finish above Shrewsbury, I think the chances are that is going to be enough to be automatically promoted.

They came down with a decent group, they invest heavily in players and they have a good manager and that combination usually won't see you far wrong as it has proved for them so far this season.

I thought our 0-0 draw at Shrewsbury earlier this season was one of our best results of the campaign and showed we have real steel on the road, something that has clearly deserted us in the past fortnight.

Someone mentioned to me this week that things can’t get worse than losing 4-0 and 3-0 on the spin, but they obviously can and they would if we lose on Saturday, even it is unluckily by a single goal.

However, we absolutely should have no fear despite Shrewsbury’s qualities, because our home form is up there with the best of them and we haven’t lost since the opening day of the season, Rodney Parade is our fortress and we absolutely love playing there.

Shrewsbury haven’t been as impressive on the road and we need to try and exploit that and get back to what we do best, which is playing with a far greater tempo and urgency than we showed at Northampton.

In the away game at Shrewsbury we had everything bar the kitchen sink thrown at us and we stood firm and that’s the aim today, we need to be dramatically improved at the back.

We were all terribly disappointed by the performance at Northampton and there is no point making excuses, we got exactly what we deserved.

The only positive I take is a personal one in that I got some minutes on the pitch after my injury troubles and a period of just not being selected.

I feel I have still got plenty to give at this level and hopefully the gaffer will trust me a little more in the coming weeks and I can help the team. Ultimately, the group succeeding is absolutely the most important thing.

Obviously Regan Poole made his debut in that visit to the Greenhous Meadow earlier this season and ahead of the return game and speaking as Regan’s academy coach, I am absolutely delighted he is going to be returning here on loan once his transfer to Fulham is finalised.

It’s ideal for all parties, it’s very difficult to move to a new club in the middle of the season and most of that is due to the personal upheaval. You’re going somewhere new, you don’t know many people, and there is an awful lot to adjust to. And that’s true of any professional, be they 20, 25 or 30-years old and it would be a lot worse if you were just 16.

This is a much better move for Regan personally and professionally, he’ll have another few months with us and can move to London in the summer as a 17-year old full of confidence after a full season in League Two.

Speaking of the end of the season, the youth team finished their league campaign on Thursday with a 2-2 draw at Swindon.

That was a good result for us against a League One side and a nice way to end the campaign after a disappointing few weeks.

I’ve done more shouting than I would have liked in 2015 because in a youth academy, if you really want to make it as a professional, your attitude needs to be absolutely spot-on all the time.

Can I say that of my whole group? Not in the past few weeks unfortunately, so it was good to see an improved display in Swindon.