Appleton hopes Ainsworth return helps inspire Salop

Michael Appleton took over at Shrewsbury Town from Gareth Ainsworth in March with the club 14 points adrift of safety in League One

Shrewsbury Town boss Michael Appleton says the return of former manager Gareth Ainsworth to the club with Gillingham on Saturday is the "perfect game" to get the Salop fans up for another vital home match.

Appleton replaced Ainsworth in March after the ex-Wycombe manager left suddenly for the Gills after only 133 days at Croud Meadow.

Ainsworth dropped down to League Two leaving Shrewsbury bottom of League One and 14 points adrift of safety - a situation Appleton was unable to reverse as Town were relegated.

With Shrewsbury just a point clear of the bottom two at the moment, Appleton says their home form - with three wins in their last three games - has to stay strong.

"Right now it looks like it's going to be massively important," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"The fans have been top drawer in terms of getting behind the players - home and away - we want to give them something to shout about and get excited about and Saturday's the perfect game to do that."

Ainsworth, who won five of his 22 games in charge of Shrewsbury, expects to be treated like a pantomime villain by the home fans and Appleton says anything that can fire the crowd up should help the players.

"I think it will. That will be part of the situation - I hope that is the case," he added.

"If you look at the last three home games they've all been quite pressured.

"Saturday's no different but there's that extra little bit from the supporters' point of view and if we get three points it will probably feel like more.

"The three points are so big for us. Gillingham are in a much healthier place but I don't want the players to be focussing on anything else but just sticking to the game plan and being good enough to execute what we want.

"I'm in fighting mode at the moment and it's important to get as many points as we can and try to pull away to a safer area."

Gareth Ainsworth was in charge at Shrewsbury for less than four months before leaving for Gillingham