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Dave Edwards has criticised the fixtures former club Shrewsbury have been handed this week.

The ex-Salop midfielder believes it is ‘unfair’ that Steve Cotterill’s side must travel to league leaders Plymouth tonight before making the journey to Pompey on Saturday.

Speaking in the Shropshire Star, the 36-year-old claimed it puts the Shrews at a ‘massive disadvantage’, before adding it’s unlikely a club like Derby would put up with it.

A total of 243 miles separate Shrewsbury and Plymouth, while there’s 200 miles between Greenhous Meadow and Fratton Park.

With it deemed ‘inconceivable’ financially or Salop to remain down south between now at Saturday, 886 miles will be covered and at least 16 hours of travel will be needed to fulfil the two fixtures.

Edwards claimed that will place a huge strain on Cotterill’s side and admitted it would make it hard for the 10th-placed Shrews to pick up any points from either game.

The former Wales international said: ‘I feel it’s really unfair on Shrewsbury, a huge ask on a small squad and for the manager.

Dave Edwards made more 200 appearances for Shrewsbury over two different spells at the club Picture: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

‘I do believe it’s “little old Shrewsbury” when fixtures are pulled out. “Is it unfair? Oh, we’ll get on with it and brush over that”.

‘Whereas if it was a Derby County would they do it?

‘The cynic in me says they wouldn’t. It’s a massive disadvantage.

‘If they get any points from Plymouth or Portsmouth it’ll be a massive achievement.’

Edwards, who now plays for Bala Town and co-commentated on Pompey’s trip to Charlton last week on Sky Sports, said he identified the issues as soon as the fixtures were released and that he sympathised with the players.

He added: ‘They were the two I noticed, back-to-back, Plymouth away on a Tuesday night and then Portsmouth.

‘From a players’ point of view, firstly, it’s an absolute nightmare.

‘I used to hate going the night before for Tuesday night games. But when it’s that far away you have to, otherwise you’re up really early in the morning, having four or five hours on the bus, having to get lunch in quite early as well as your rest to get the journey out of your body.

‘It’s all a bit crammed in, and you’re probably tired from the early morning!

‘It’s best to go the night before, but whenever I’ve done that you feel lethargic, because you spend all day waiting in the hotel, hanging around, it’s something I never enjoyed doing.

‘The knock-on effect is getting home about 3am. It’s hard enough to ever sleep after a night game, your body will seize after a long journey so Wednesday is a write-off. Thursday will be a work day but you probably need a later start to sleep well to recover.

‘To then tie in another one, Portsmouth on the Saturday, which will mean an early departure on Friday to miss traffic, is terrible from a players’ perspective.

‘Steve Cotterill will probably have to rotate his squad more to get some freshness for that second game. I wouldn’t enjoy it!’

Shrewsbury's consecutive away days to Plymouth and Portsmouth criticised - with doubts raised whether club like Derby would put up with it