Kelvin Langmead is Towns current longest serving player, with nearly 200 league games under his belt. I grabbed a quick word with him after training this week.

MB: Looking back to when you were a kid, who were your footballing heroes?

KL: I think I was the same as everyone really, and looking up to the England squad when I was growing up. Just look at the 1998 World Cup squad with Gazza and players like that, you watch how much they enjoyed playing football, and their love for the game, I think it inspired anyone growing up or of any age. I was always one for watching Match of the Day, and you would get excited from watching the top players performing.

MB: Did you have an eye for any defensive players or is that an area that you didn't look at until you changed positions?

KL: I guess until I turned into a defender, it was all focussed on who scored the goals. I think as a kid, you want to be the one who is scoring the goals. So for me, I had the likes of Shearer and Andy Cole, players who scored goals week in, week out. You are a youngster so you want the glory.

MB: After nearly 200 league games for us and a couple of appearances at Wembley, would you consider your time at Shrewsbury a success?

KL: In terms of what I actually came here to achieve, which was to get the club out of a relegation battle. When I signed we were third bottom, I think we had a huge game against Kidderminster, which if we had lost we would have gone into the bottom two. So there has been different successes, I would love a promotion and the two times we have been to Wembley they're obviously failures, but the club have progressed. So I do see it as a successful time, but the clincher would be a promotion.

MB: How do you feel about Wembley?

KL: If you gave me the choice of finishing eighth or the play- off final, of course it's 50/50 so I would take Wembley. But I think the heartache it causes when you lose, and the impact it has on your life, I wouldn't want to go through that again.

MB: It's bad enough sitting and watching, it must be so much worse when you are playing.

KL: Yes it's tough on every part of your life, no I would rather skip that and go up as top 3.

MB: You have had a few defensive partners in your time here, which one was the greater influence on your game?

KL: I don't think I could say who had the most. When I first started at centre back I was alongside Richard Hope, so he had a huge impact because I was learning my trade. As well as the likes of Sagi Burton at that time, and Cough's at the moment, their experiences are obviously something I can take a lot from. Cough's has been fantastic with me, so has Jacko when I played with him. So without a shadow of a doubt all of them, anyone I have played alongside I have learned different things from.

MB: Would you want to go back up front now?

KL: Sometimes yes, for example Port Vale when we were one nil down, we were pushing for that equalizer and although it was very end to end, you want to be up there having an impact on the game. So there are times when you find yourself really wanting to push on up the pitch, but I am still learning my trade as a centre half and I like to stay put.

MB: Do you have any nicknames or banter you can share with us?

KL: Not nicknames but I do get a lot of stick; me and Hibbo are always at each other about our receding hairlines. I think anyone who is losing their hair, we tend to banter about, but not massively, just me and Hibbo giving each other a bit of stick.

MB: Who is receding the furthest at the moment?

KL: Well I am going to say Hibbo definitely!

MB: What are your thoughts on the upcoming Darlington game?

KL: Well it's a big game for us, we've been on a good run and we were disappointed on Saturday not to get anything from the game. I think we need to show a good reaction, a positive reaction. I know they are bottom of the table, but you can't look too much into that. They have got a new manager, all the players are going to be looking to prove themselves, I think it's going to be a really tough game for us. It's a strange atmosphere there, such a good ground with only a couple of thousand in there. I have played there several times and I like playing there, I think it's a good surface. We need to start better than we started Saturday, and just have more impact on the game. We all realize that when you're winning 3 or 4 games in a row, it's a lot more enjoyable than getting beaten, so we want to go back to enjoying it.

We haven't lost back to back this season, and have bounced back well so far.

KL: yes, you look at the Dagenham game; we have had a good response since then, the same after Bradford, four wins in a row. So we're just looking to be positive and to bounce back, I think we need to show people that we can keep putting these runs together that will cement us in the top 4 or 5 in the league.

MB: When you lose heavily like at Dagenham, does it make you want to come back twice as strong?

KL: Yes it does, it was a night game so we obviously only had another couple of days till one coming up. When you have a heavy defeat and you don't play well, you want a game to come round as soon as possible to put it right, and thankfully we did.

You look back and look at teams we beat heavily like Wycombe and Gillingham and they both went on to get promoted, so we gave them the kick up the backside, and hopefully Dagenham gave one to us.