Having narrowly missed out on the League Two title last season to Burton Albion, spirits were reasonably high at Greenhous Meadow.

After promises by the board that the same mistakes that were made a couple of seasons before under Graham Turner (i.e. bringing in 20 players on loan) would not happen this time around.

Despite the poor league form, Shrewsbury enjoyed a fantastic FA Cup run which culminated in a 3-0 home defeat to Manchester United in the Sixth Round, having previously beaten teams like Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday on the way.

The so-called "magic of the Cup" distracted the fans from what has been a largely disappointing season, especially taking into consideration how well their fellow promoted sides have done, especially Burton Albion in line to play in the Championship next season.

Some big name signings on free transfers after the beginning of the season (Ian Black, Zak Whitbread, and Anthony Gerrard) gave Town fans hope, but despite a run of nine matches without a defeat, they are once again staring at relegation in the face.

Here are Shrewsbury Town's THREE worst moments of the season so far......

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE 3 WORST MOMENTS!

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3 - Selling Connor Goldson and Ryan Woods 

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Two products of the Shrewsbury Town academy, Goldson and Woods had developed in recent seasons as two key players for the Shropshire club.

Goldson was sold to Brighton & Hove Albion in mid-August for an undisclosed fee, while Woods was sold on deadline day to Brentford also for an undisclosed fee.

Whilst it was money in the bank, the absence of both players has been felt on the field.

While Goldson has been replaced with Zak Whitbread to a certain degree, the former Norwich man hasn't made the Salop faithful forget about Goldson.

On the other hand, Shrewsbury's central midfield still lacks the creativity and dynamism that Woods brought to it going forward, which has undoubtedly impacted their game and is probably one of the causes behind their current league position today.

2 - Shrewsbury Town 0 Oldham Athletic 1

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This was an especially frustrating defeat and, overall, perhaps the worst team performance of the season (yes, even more so than the worst moment of the season).

The timing was everything: Shrewsbury were on the back of a fantastic last-gasp win at league-leaders Burton Albion on the back of defeats against Chesterfield (7-1) and Barnsley (0-3).

With a complete January transfer window overhaul, which saw the club bring in 5 players and get let go of the club captain and the two starting strikers among others, fans were expecting a change in attitude and fortunes that would come with the new faces and the recent win at the Pirelli Stadium.

Instead, the 4,057 spectators at Greenhous Meadow that evening (yours truly included), full of hope and optimism, were treated to an awful performance by Salop that showed no character, no fight and no spirit hardly troubling Joel Coleman in the Oldham goal.

What made this defeat especially frustrating was not just the attitude shown but also the disappointment after the pre-match expectations.

Also, there was the pessimism that the new signings might not work out, something which has later turned out not to be entirely the case.

Still, the feeling coming out of the stadium that night among Salop supporters was one of doom and utmost gloom.

1 - Chesterfield 7 Shrewsbury Town 1

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Quite simply put, Shrewsbury Town's worst defeat since 1964, when they lost to Southend United by the same scoreline.

440 Town fans made the trip to North Derbyshire on this cold December afternoon and I'm sure that it would be hard for them to remember a worst result, most definitely if they were under the age of 60.

Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and Chesterfield raced to a 3-0 half-time lead and while Town pulled one back with 25 minutes to go, Chesterfield still managed to score four more goals before the final whistle.

First-half injuries to influential midfielder Abu Ogogo and centre-back Anthony Gerrard turned what had so far been an even match on its head, and the defeat was topped off by the sending off of left-back Junior Brown.

As explained before, this result brought a complete overhaul of the squad and while some would say the team have fared better recently, the reality is somewhat different: after the match, Shrewsbury were one point and one place above the relegation zone, exactly the same as they are today going into the last five matches of the season.

All in all, a disastrous day to be a Shrewsbury Town fan.

Do you agree Shrewsbury fans? Are there any other moments that you would class worse than these? Let us know your comments below!