Our preview of the trip to Shrewsbury…
Shrewsbury Town
Sky Bet League 1
Saturday 5th April 2014
Greenhous Meadow, Oteley Rd, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ST
Kick-off: 3pm
Weather forecast: 14°c, cloudy
Referee: Richard Clark
TICKETS:
You can book your tickets online up until 4pm tomorrow but make sure you make it down to the club shop before 5pm on Friday to collect! The shop is also open from 10-12 on Saturday if you want to collect before setting off. All three remaining home games are on sale on Boro Tickets so save your space and some money for the decisive final games of the season!
LAST TIME WE MET:
Boro lost 3-1 when Shrewsbury came to the Lamex earlier this season in November, despite taking an early lead. Zoko put Stevenage in front on 24 minutes but Shrewsbury came back and goals from Reach, Eaves and Jacobsen secured the Shrews with their first away victory of the season.
TEAM NEWS:
GW told the press on Thursday that there’s “plenty of knocks” still carrying over from Tuesday but he’s hopeful that they’ll be fine for the weekend. Joe N’Guessan made a full return to training this week after four weeks out with ankle ligament damage and made a positive impact from the bench on Tuesday. Dean Parrett and Roarie Deacon are both making good progress following their respective operations and unfortunately it seems Steve Arnold will be out for the season after aggravating a previous knee injury last weekend.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM:
The gaffer spoke to us on Thursday morning about the need to stay calm and his respect for Michael Jackson, the Shrewsbury manager.
“We probably need to win 3 or 4 games I’d say to stay in the league, it doesn’t make Saturday a must win game. It’s a game that we’d love it win of course, but if we fail to win on Saturday and won the next five we’d have plenty of points in the bag.”
“I know Michael from doing my A and pro license with him, he’s a young manager that’s worked very hard to get himself qualified, to put the work in early and he’s now got his first crack of the whip in terms of getting out there and having a job to work at. So, I know he’ll work very hard, he’s a guy who does put one foot in front of the other, cares passionately about winning and they’ve become much more determined and resilient side since he’s taken the reins. It’s probably testament to the defensive ethic and work ethic that he’s got, which I’m sure he spreads to his lads.”
Sign into Boro Player to watch the full interview.
BETTING:
There’s not much in it between the two sides according to the bookies – Boro are slight underdogs at 9/5 with Sky Bet, the official league sponsor.
Although he’s not been prolific as of late, you’d be a fool to discount Francois Zoko from scoring so for him to score and Boro to win, the combined odds are 11/4.
After the superb defensive performance against Wolves, perhaps the pick of the bets for the game is Stevenage to win to nil – 7/2.
Sign up to Sky Bet through any of the attached links to earn yourself a free £5 bet whilst helping the club earn extra revenue.
RECENT FORM:
Shrewsbury have struggled to put a run together that’ll elevate them out of the bottom four as demonstrated by only one win out of their last eight games. However, four draws has kept the team within touching distance of safety so manager, Michael Jackson will believe there’s still a huge amount to play for.
THE VITAL STATISTICS:
Shrewsbury are currently bottom of the table, just one point behind Boro and the Shrews have won the least amount of games in the league – eight out of 40 games. Rather remarkably, Shrewsbury have the tenth best defensive record in the division, however at the other end of the pitch they’re rock bottom in terms of goals scored.