Ahead of this afternoon’s trip to Shrewsbury, George Johnston reckons Wanderers are becoming more streetwise on the road.

The Whites struggled away from home at times last season but there have been plenty of positives to take from the recent trips to Accrington, Cambridge and Fleetwood.

Johnston reckons they are becoming more “intelligent” in these situations and getting better at adapting to the opposition.

“Other teams want to start quick and get those early goals against us,” he said. “That might mean we have to change the way we play for the first 10 or 15 minutes and then grow into the game.

“I think we did that quite well at Cambridge and one goal wins that for us.

“It is something we have become more intelligent with and something we will be taking into Saturday.”

Shrewsbury are currently 13th in the League One table and enter the game on the back of a 2-0 win against Lincoln. Luke Leahy and Tom Bayliss were on target either side of half time that day.

Johnston knows it won’t be easy against Steve Cotterill’s side but believes Wanderers can “hurt” the Shropshire club.

He added: “(It will be) a patience exercise and just being aware of their threats on the counter attack and from set pieces.

“They are quite a big side from what I have seen. I watched some of their game at the weekend.

“It is just playing the game as it comes, but we know what we can do in possession can definitely hurt them.”

The centre-back doesn’t shy away from a physical battle, and he feels the Whites are getting better at dealing with sides who try to “bully” them.

“I wouldn’t say our preparation has been any different,” he explained. “I think we are just more aware of the task ahead of us.

“These teams want to bully us, they want to over-run us and over-power us. But we have stood up to the test most cases this year and Saturday, we will stand up to that one as well.”

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