In-form Plymouth pose a different test for Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury Town stood up to Wycombe’s physical bombardment on Tuesday but face a very different challenge on the road again tomorrow.
One of the longer hauls of the League One season takes Steve Cotterill’s men to Devon to tackle an ever-improving Plymouth Argyle side targeting promotion following their FA Cup heroics.
The Pilgrims – whose 3-0 success at Montgomery Waters Meadow in August remains Town’s heaviest league defeat of the season – are no longer under the stewardship of former Town favourite Ryan Lowe, who exited for Championship Preston last month.
They are now managed by Lowe’s former assistant, ex-Bradford, Crewe and Bury midfielder Steven Schumacher, who has boosted Plymouth prospects further given the smooth transition into his first managerial role.
Plymouth return home to Home Park after four away games on the spin, which brought about convincing wins at strugglers Doncaster and Crewe and a Cup tie to remember at Stamford Bridge.
Schumacher’s men pushed Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea all the way to extra-time, where they eventually fell to a Marcos Alonso winner, before striker Ryan Hardie missed a dramatic late penalty to send the fourth round tie to a shootout.
Fifteen-goal top scorer Hardie, who scored a brace at Town in August, responded in style with a hat-trick at Crewe in midweek.
Further still, the Pilgrims earned national praise, including on Match of the Day, for the way they approached the clash with the Premier League giants.
Schumacher’s men were happy to play out from the back between their three centre-halves and wing-backs to create chances and trouble the Stamford Bridge hosts.
League One is full of different challenges and Plymouth certainly present a different prospect to that of fellow promotion-chasers Wycombe, who Cotterill’s men frustrated in midweek.
The Chairboys bombarded Town with pressure up to big striker Sam Vokes. They forced more than 25 shots, but Salop stood firm to record a fourth league draw on the spin, something that last occurred in 2013. It is 2009 since Town have drawn five on the bounce.
Defender Matt Pennington was crucial to Tuesday’s stalemate. A first-half goal-saving clearance over his own crossbar had to be seen to be believed.
He said: “There are a few teams in this league where there is a similar sort of test (to Wycombe) – but yes, it was good to go somewhere like that, teams go there and get rolled over by that style.
“But we stayed strong and got a good point in the end.
“I think Plymouth will be a different type of game, I think they will play a lot more and it will be a good test for us.”
Town – who travel to Devon today – remain without the suspended Luke Leahy, who serves the second of a two-match ban, with a decision to be made on new recruit Tom Flanagan, who has been ill.
