Shrewsbury need to take some of the attacking burden away from Shaun Whalley.

Paul Hurst deserves credit for getting the best out a talented player, but the reliance on Whalley is starting to become a burden due to the pressure on him to deliver constantly.

Shrewsbury have a strong defence with which their team is built around and this has seen them concede just 26 goals in 33 games.

Wigan are the only side in the division who have conceded less with 18.

However, they have only scored 43 goals all season and rarely scored more than two goals with the 3-2 victory over and the 4-0 win over Bristol Rovers being the only league games in which they have scored more than two. Both of those games were in the first few months of the season.

The rarity with which they score goals for fun and the amount of points they have picked up suggest they are more than adept at grinding out victories.

However, the main issue for the Shrews is the amount of goals that are due to Whalley's influence whether it be scoring or assisting. They have scored 43 goals in the league and he had a major contribution in 16 of them.

Shrewsbury are currently battling Wigan and Blackburn Rovers for the automatic spots, but they are in danger of slipping down into the play-off spots if the goalscoring and creative burden isn't spread around the team.

Wigan have three games in hand so they should move above the Shrews, which would leave them one point behind Blackburn Rovers in third place. Both of those teams have the depth in forward areas to continue to outscore opponents and maintain their form.

The last five games showcase how influential Whalley is to this team. He had three assists and one goal in those games with the team scoring a total of seven during that time.

This season he has played a total of 2724 minutes which is just over 30 games and is the fourth highest amount on the team.

Having such a high workload puts him at risk of physical and mental burnout and Shrewsbury are in real danger if that happens.