Shrewsbury Town fell to a 1-0 loss at Burton.
A goal from Beryly Lubala was enough to win it for the Brewers at Pirelli Stadium.
Town had more than enough chances to get something from the game with Max Mata, Jordan Shipley and substitute Tom Bayliss all going close.
But when it really mattered, Salop couldn't find the extra bit of quality needed to put the ball in the back of the net.
Team news:
Head coach Matt Taylor made four changes to the side that lost to Cheltenham on Boxing Day.
Morgan Feeney, Tunmise Sobowale, Mal Benning and Max Mata came into the starting lineup as Salop changed to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Jordan Shipley and Taylor Perry either side of Mata in attack.
The hosts lined up in the same formation with Kwadwo Baah, Bobby Kamwa and Lubala forming their front three.
Report:
The first chance of the game came Town’s way as Shipley’s drilled effort from inside the box was deflected out for a corner.
From that subsequent corner, Salop tried a set-piece routine straight from the training ground with the ball cleverly worked to the edge of the box where Mal Benning fired narrowly over.
Despite Town having been the brighter of the two teams, the hosts made it 1-0 inside 20 minutes as Joe Powell’s corner found Lubala at the near post and he nodded past Marko Marosi.
Undeterred, Salop continued to create with Perry setting up a couple of chances.
First, he hit the byline before drilling a cross into Mata whose side-footed effort went wide of the post.
Shortly after, Perry went on another run and picked out Shipley who found space on the far side of the box before hitting his effort over the bar.
Less than 10 minutes before half-time, Salop had a free-kick in a dangerous area but Elliott Bennett’s effort went over the bar.
Perry and Nohan Kenneh then both saw shots blocked moments before the referee blew his whistle for half-time.
The second half started action-packed with the Brewers going close to doubling their advantage.
First, Kamwa drilled in a dangerous cross which flashed across the face of our goal before Town cleared.
Steve Seddon then had an effort from distance which was stopped well by Marosi.
Shrewsbury’s first chance of the second half came on the counter-attack as Shipley looked destined to slip in Ryan Bowman but a deflection took the low cross away from our number nine.
With minutes to go until the 90 Shrewsbury piled on the pressure with Bayliss venturing down the line before cutting it back to Kenneh who fired over.
