Shawbury United are up for the derby day challenge
Shawbury United claimed the scalp of second placed Bewdley in midweek and will be brimming with confidence ahead of Saturday’s visit of neighbours Bridgnorth.
Declan Allen’s men will be looking to avenge the 3-1 away defeat they suffered to their Shropshire rivals in the West Midlands Premier league less than a fortnight ago.
United want to reclaim bragging rights but Allen is more galvanised by the fact victory moves his side within two points of the Meadow men.
“Obviously the recent defeat will be at the back of the lads’ minds and they will be out to put it right,” he said.
“But for me, to go within a couple of points of Bridgnorth is more important than the fact it is a derby. I see it as a six pointer for us.
“If we manage to get a victory on Saturday, we start moving firmly towards the middle of the table.
“It puts us right in amongst the pack, and in a very strong position on paper, especially with our games in hand on the others.”
Allen’s side surprised many with their 2-1 win over title challenging Bewdley but the boss was always confident that his young charges could cause an upset.
“We fancy ourselves against the better teams in the league,” he said. “We have a decent record against the sides in the top six this season.
“We’ve known for a while that our results inconsistent, but we expect that as we are a young team. But we have been putting in decent performances of late.
“Everyone agreed that we deserved to win on Tuesday night that we were full value for the three points. It was not just a smash and grab.”
The Shawbury manager was able to welcome back three or four players for the win on Tuesday night and he believes that was a big factor in his team’s success.
“For the first time in a while, we had 16 first team players to choose from,” he said. “We’ve had 13 in recent games and have had to fill the squad with some of the youth team.
“The young lads who have come in have done well but on Tuesday it was nice to have that extra experience to call upon and on Saturday it will be the same.
“It gives me a good headache. We welcome two more back, Jack Sweeney and Jack Garrington, so we will have near enough a full complement of players at the weekend.”
