Mat Sadler ready to ride into action for Town
'Ultimate pro' Mat Sadler has been backed to replace Junior Brown as Shrewsbury Town prepare to step into the Lions' Den without three experienced defenders.
Sadler is the man manager Micky Mellon is set to turn to at Millwall on Saturday to replace left-back Brown, who has been ruled out for the season with damaged knee ligaments.
And with Nathaniel Knight-Percival and Zak Whitbread suspended for Saturday's trip to The New Den, stand-in captain Abu Ogogo believes 31-year-old Sadler can bridge the experience gap. "Definitely – he's been patient and he's the ultimate professional," said Ogogo, who travels to Shrewsbury with Sadler each day.
"Even though he hasn't played much, he still stays behind after training to do extra work, he's experienced so he can definitely do the job."
On-loan Wigan youngster Jack Hendry and Dom Smith come into the equation with Jermaine Grandison.
Ogogo insisted: "We'd like to have them (Knight-Percival and Whitbread) but we've got others who can do the same job.
"We have Jack on loan from Wigan so he can do a job. From what I've seen of him in training, he's done really well.
"With Jermaine's experience, he can talk to him and help him through games.
"Dom's proved he can play at this level, so we've got options."
Wins for Fleetwood and Oldham against Peterborough and Swindon on Tuesday has cut the gap to the drop zone to two points from eight a week ago with all of Town's next four opponents in the top eight.
"Millwall have won their last three at home and they're fighting to get into the play-offs so it's going to be tough, but we need to go there with confidence," said Ogogo.
But the midfielder insists Salop are only looking at themselves.
"We knew it was going to be tough, but we're not looking at other teams," he said. "We just need to get enough points."
