Micky Mellon picking a good Shrewsbury side

Town take on neighbours AFC Telford United at Greenhous Meadow in the annual showpiece (7.30pm).

But, with League One safety a priority, it seems unlikely that Mellon will risk senior players.

He said: "We'll look at the whole situation and I'll put a team together that will be expected to perform well and try to win the cup.

"We want to win every game and this is another one. It's a historic cup – it's the oldest cup competition in the country – so it deserves to be thought highly of.

"That's how we'll approach it. I respect the tournament, Shropshire and the Shropshire FA, but I have to pick a team based on the situation we're in."

James Wesolowski could feature however, while on-loan Wigan defender Jack Hendry and Elliot Grandin are still to make their debuts.

Mellon continued: "I don't know – we'll see. But the sooner I can get 'Weso' back, the better. If we believe it's right, I'll play him."

Town watch Telford regularly, with Mellon saying: "We cover all the teams and we watched them two weeks ago.

"It's important we know about all or most local teams and I know Telford.

"Great credit to their managers (Rob Smith and Larry Chambers) – they're good, passionate football guys who I've come up against before.

"They've improved the playing staff and it's important for us to be well aware of anything in the area – for example, I could tell you Wolves' group almost as well as my own."

The teams last met at league level in the Conference in 2003-04, when they also clashed in the FA Trophy. Mellon is keen for a healthy rivalry between the fans.

He added: "Football thrives on rivalry. Us and Port Vale was great, I loved us and Crewe and us and Walsall. They're important."

The Shropshire Senior Cup final does not count in the suspensions of Nat Knight-Percival and Zak Whitbread.

It means Whitbread misses Saturday's trip to Millwall and Knight-Percival is out for the weekend and the visit of Bradford.