Text Expander snippets don't expand the first time if there is not a space before the shortcut

My primary use of Text Expander (TE) is to insert HTML tags. For example, I have set up a snippet so that when I type p; it is expanded to <br><br>

In Textastic, when I type

Hello World.p;

the p; does not expand the first time. When I erase the p; and type it again, then it expands as it is supposed to. But when I put a space before the snippet shortcut, it works the first time:

Hello Word. p;

I think TE snippet shortcuts should expand immediately the first time, without having to erase and retype them, and without having to put an unnecessary and unwanted space before them.

Thank you for checking into this. BTW, I love your app ... keep up the awesome work!