Bernard McNally column: The old underdog tag could serve Shrewsbury well against Sunderland

Town will really have to dust themselves off and come out fighting.

The Black Cats are a massive club for League One. They should be knocking on the doors of the Premier League.

Somebody told me Town haven’t faced Sunderland in the league since 1988/89, when I played. I can’t remember the score, but if I was speaking to our old right-back Wayne Williams he would tell me who played, when and where it was and who scored!

But the visits of Sunderland and Barnsley are vital games for the Town because John Askey and the team need points.

I know a lot of fans are looking forward to seeing Sunderland. The players will want to be playing in this game. The good thing is they can go from the second half at Fleetwood.

Who is to say they don’t surprise Jack Ross’s side? Shrewsbury will be the underdogs and human character responds to that.

It served Town so well last season. Big games can help players step up.

John admitted he got it wrong after the 2-1 defeat at Fleetwood, where he lined up 4-4-2 and it just didn’t work.

Fans have to realise that times have changed drastically from when it was a static 4-4-2, that nearly every club played.

A number of Town fans were calling for 4-4-2 and we failed miserably at it.

In the second half we were far better when we went back to the shape that suited us. There is a myth at the moment that if you play two strikers you’ll get more goals. It doesn’t work like that, you’ve got to pack midfield.

When I was at West Brom I had Alan Buckley having a go at me and another in midfield but we were saying ‘they’ve got three players in there!’

f you gain control in midfield, more often than not you control the game.

John said it was a lesson for him to learn. There’s no magic wand where we say ‘I’d do this and that’ from the stands.

Playing a front three means you can have attackers running from all directions, a bit like England’s trio in Spain this week. I’d like to see the 4-3-3 with Lee Angol, Shaun Whalley and Alex Gilliead up front on Saturday.

After berating himself last time out, John really does need to find the shape and system that suits his players best.

Even at the low level I’ve managed at, there is a lot of pressure on you. John will be under masses of pressure. It sounds so simple, ‘why don’t we have two strikers?’ and he succumbed to that pressure.

He will have been kicking himself and he’ll think ‘that won’t happen next time’. Hopefully it’ll be a lesson to fans as well. In my experience those that shout the loudest don’t come forward and say they’ve got it wrong.