Since a shock 3-2 victory over title favourites Birmingham City during his first match, Gareth Ainsworth has faced the reality of the dire situation at Shrewsbury Town as they look to avoid relegation, with Thursday's hosts winning just one of their last eight League One contests.

Due to the postponement of their home clash with in-form Huddersfield Town on Saturday, the Shrews have been afforded nearly a fortnight to recover from an unsuccessful trip to Leyton Orient, where a second-half strike from Tottenham Hotspur loanee Jamie Donley won the day for the O's.

Enduring a three-game unbeaten streak ahead of the daunting visit of Wrexham on Thursday, Shrewsbury are currently occupying 22nd position in the League One standings, just three points above bottom side Burton Albion and eight points behind Bristol Rovers in the relative safety of 20th.

The Shropshire outfit will need to address their worrying home form if they wish to remain as a third-tier club into 2026, with Ainsworth's troops winning just three of their 12 matches at The Croud Meadow, whilst only Peterborough United (25) have conceded more goals at their respective base than the Shrews' 21.

That being said, both of Ainsworth's victories so far as Shrewsbury manager have arrived in front of their home faithful, including their most recent success on Boxing Day, when an early effort from defender Morgan Feeney was ultimately enough to beat mid-table dwellers Lincoln City.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

自从在他的第一场比赛中以3-2击败夺冠热门伯明翰城之后，加雷斯·安斯沃思面对着什鲁斯伯里镇的严峻形势，他们希望保级，周四的东道主在最近的八场联赛中只赢了一场。

由于周六主场与状态良好的哈德斯菲尔德的比赛推迟，Shrews有近两周的时间来从对莱顿东方的失败之旅中恢复过来，在莱顿东方的比赛中，托特纳姆热刺的租借球员杰米·唐利下半场的进球为他们赢得了胜利。

在周四对阵雷瑟姆之前，什鲁斯伯里保持了三场不败，目前在英甲排名第22位，仅比垫底的伯顿阿尔比恩高出3分，比布里斯托尔流浪者落后8分，排在相对安全的第20位。

如果什罗普郡的球队想要在2026年继续保持第三梯队的地位，他们需要解决他们令人担忧的主场状态，安斯沃思的球队在人群草地球场的12场比赛中只赢了3场，而只有彼得伯勒联队（25场）在各自的主场丢了21个球。

话虽如此，到目前为止，安斯沃思执教什鲁斯伯里的两场胜利都是在他们的主场球迷面前取得的，包括他们最近在节礼日的胜利，当时后卫摩根·菲尼的一球最终足以击败中游球队林肯城。