Graham Turner: Shrewsbury Town facing a crucial run of games
Last updated on .From the section Football
Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner says his side's next run of league games are particularly vital to their season.
The Shropshire side have won only once in 11 matches and are 18th in League One, a point above the relegation zone.
"Before the first game, we looked at the fixtures and it was obvious our first dozen or so would be tough," Turner told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"After that the next bunch were always going to be crucial in determining how this season pans out for us."
The 66-year-old returned as Shrewsbury boss in the summer of 2010, 32 years after the club gave him his first managerial job.
He won League Two promotion in his second campaign before securing a comfortable 16th-place finish, spending most of the season away from relegation trouble.
But this term Turner's side have been dragged towards the bottom having won only twice.
"The size of the clubs we've already played, plus the more fancied sides like Peterborough and Brentford, meant that we had to be realistic," he continued.
"But now, in the next eight matches we play a lot of the teams around us in the table.
"Like I have done before, the team has been set some mini individual and collective targets.
"It worked for the last two seasons so hopefully it will stimulate the challenge a bit more in an important period."
