JIMMY Quinn may have thrown in the towel on Shrewsbury Town's title hopes but Hereford United go into tomorrow's derby still with a realistic chance of the top prize.

Victory against the Shrews at Edgar Street will take the Bulls back to the summit of the Nationwide Conference, above Chester City on goal difference who are without a game.

The Blues will have two games in hand but as the season reaches its climax, Mark Wright's team will increasingly feel the pressure while Hereford are going from strength to strength as five consecutive wins testifies.

The stakes though will be huge for tomorrow with Shrewsbury boss Quinn, who had a short, unsuccessful playing stint with the Bulls three years ago, also under the cosh after seeing his side slip out of the play-off places following a 2-1 home defeat to Aldershot in mid-week.

Desperate

It leaves them trailing Chester by 15 points and desperate for three points at Edgar Street to revive their play-off hopes.

Hereford manager Graham Turner was at Gay Meadow to run the rule over tomorrow's opposition and anticipates a spiky contest.

"Shrewsbury are a very competitive, confrontational side, packed with experience and have got certain threats throughout the side," he said.

"But we are on such a high at the moment that we've just got to go out and play our game."

Quinn said after Tuesday's defeat: "You can't lay down and die, we've got a lot of games coming up and a lot of points to play for so what we need to do is win a few games to make sure we're still in the play-offs.

New signing Rob Betts will be added to the Bulls squad though Tamika Mkandawire played his final game of his loan spell at Margate last weekend.

Lincoln City midfielder Scott Willis has agreed to stay at Edgar Street for another month. His original deal was due to expire after tomorrow's match.

Mark Beesley is the only Bulls absentee with a viral infection, while midfielder Jordan King has gone on loan to Dr Martens Premier Division side Hednesford Town.

Hereford will be keen to erase the memory of their 4-1 defeat at Shrewsbury in November.

Ex-Shrews captain Andy Tretton, who missed that encounter, is set to face his former club as is top scorer Steve Guinan.

Brisk ticket sales and a travelling contingent of 2,000 Shrews fans could see the Edgar Street gate swelled to over 6,000.

Although the match is all-ticket the club has urged supporters to arrive early to avoid turnstile congestion.

FORMCAST: Bulls to win 2-1.