IT is massive game for Rovers against Shrewsbury on Saturday.

I don’t think we should read too much into the FA Cup defeat at Hull, it that old adage of concentrate on the league now and I think Tony Mowbray will be happy to have all the focus on the promotion push.

Shrewsbury on the other hand are still in the cup after drawing with West Ham on Sunday. I watched that game on the TV and they looked a very good side, you wouldn’t have guessed that West Ham were the Premier League club.

Paul Hurst has done a really good job since he went in there and you would do well to find anyone who thought they were going to be in the top two at this stage of the season.

It is a must win for Rovers really if they want to keep pace with the top two. Lose and the gap goes to eight points and that is a big gap at this stage of the season.

I keep waiting for Shrewsbury to have a wobble and you do wonder if they might lose their focus a touch with West Ham away coming up. Rovers must be on it from the first whistle and look to take advantage of any tiredness, physical or mental, that Shrewsbury might show.

If Rovers can get an early goal and the crowd, which I am sure will be a big one, can get behind them then I see a home win.

And if Rovers do get three points then it will be interesting to see how Shrewsbury react.

I do think it will be Wigan and Rovers who finish first and second, I just think both have the bigger squads to cope with injuries and suspensions.

And in Mowbray, Rovers have a manager who has a lot of experience, has been in promotion battles before and that might just make all the difference.

I remember as a player being involved in promotion races and a lot of the time it is the mentality that is the biggest thing you need. You have to go out there believing you will win every game and believing you will score, even if you are 1-0 down with five minutes to go. That is the sign of a good team and I do think Rovers have that about them, Saturday will be the acid test.

I was pleased to see Paul Downing sign a permanent deal, he has impressed me in the first half of the season and I think he is an excellent player at this level.

He defends first and hopefully him and Charlie Mulgrew can form a good partnership for the rest of the year and, together with the rest of the team, tighten up on conceding goals from set-pieces.