Recalled defender Mike Jackson, hoping to keep his place in the side at relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Saturday, admits a “scruffy win” could hold the key to Shrewsbury Town kick-starting an improvement in their disappointing away record.
Jackson was pleased to be handed a return to the Town side for the first time since November when he replaced Kelvin Langmead alongside Graham Coughlan at the heart of the back four for Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Accrington.
And, having experienced life on the outside looking in for one of the first times in his long career, Jackson has extra reason for wanting to impress and keep Town on course for promotion.
“I want to keep playing,” said the ex-Blackpool and Preston man.
“Accrington was my first game for two and a half months so I’ve just got to build on that, make sure I’m right for Saturday and hopefully we can go and get an away win as it’s vitally needed.
“You’ve got no divine right to play. I got suspended and had a couple of injuries, and if the gaffer keeps his policy of lads keeping the shirt if they’re doing well, you have to abide by that.
“We push each other on here. I think I’ve pushed Kelvin and Coughs with them knowing I was waiting to come in and that’s helped them as well.
“It’s been disappointing not to be playing but the lads in the team have done well.
“Kelvin’s been one of our better players. He made a mistake the other day against Brentford and I made one at home to Barnet earlier this season so I felt for him.
“The Accrington game was a start for me as I had not played for a while and it was just good to get a game.”
Jackson, who revealed he only found out he was playing an hour before kick-off on Tuesday, said Town now have to keep picking up wins to give them the best chance of a top three finish in a congested top half of the table.
“We’ve got a target here now to get 10 wins from our remaining games and we’ll be there,” he said. “That’s a big goal for us now. If we can aim towards that we won’t be far away.”
Jackson knows it’s imperative Town improve their points return on the road – just a dozen collected from a possible 42 to date – if they are to go the distance in an absorbing promotion race.
“Sometimes I think it just gets a bit of a mental thing,” he said. “You just need a little scruffy win. It doesn’t have to be crafted or anything like that. You just need to get a goal and then hang on. That just kicks it all on again.
“There’s an art to winning away from home. You’ve got to get into position and people have to do things you wouldn’t normally do at home so we’ll be working towards that. It’s a big thing and we need to win away from home.”
But Jackson knows Town can expect a tricky afternoon on the south coast against a side fighting for their Football League lives.
“They’ll be going for it as they’re in trouble,” he added. “We went to Barnet who are near the bottom and it was an even game so there are no easy games in this division. We’ll just have to make sure we’re right.”
Boss Paul Simpson hopes to have Shane Cansdell-Sherriff available after a hamstring complaint while midfielder Paul Murray, rested in midweek, will also be pushing for a return.
“If we can average two points every game between now and the end of the season, I think that should be enough to get us up,” said Simpson.
“We can’t keep talking about wanting to get the away form going. We’ve got to do it and it would be nice if we could start it on Saturday.”