Exeter v Shrewsbury - Match preview
If Town are victorious at Exeter tonight it will be the first time in almost 30 years they have won seven league games in succession.
Steve Cotterill’s side head down south this evening looking to repeat Shrewsbury’s form in the 1995/96 season, which saw them win seven games on the bounce in the old Football League Division Two.
They beat Rotherham, Oxford, Brentford, Burnley, Swindon, Stockport and Brighton to achieve the feat – with Fred Davies at the helm at the time.
Since New Year’s Day, Cotterill’s team have been superb and they are second only to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley in the EFL’s longest winning streaks.
Salop just need three more points in the remaining 16 League One games to match their points tally of 50 from last season.
Cotterill refused to get carried away in his pre-match press conference, saying so far all they have is the ‘potential’ to have a good season, meaning more hard work needs to be done to secure it between now and May 7.
Matthew Pennington has been described as ‘better’ by the Shrewsbury Town boss, but it remains to be seen if he has made enough progress to feature in the clash in Devon.
He has missed Town’s last two games due to an injury he picked up at the end of the game against Forest Green Rovers, which Shrewsbury won 2-1 thanks to a last-minute turnaround.
Tom Flanagan will still not be available for the game as he serves the final game of a two-match suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards – Luke Leahy had to deputise at left centre-back with Taylor Moore filling in on the other side.
The boss also revealed Carl Winchester was taken off on Saturday as a precaution. The Sunderland loanee picked up a knock on his calf.
It does not necessarily mean the midfielder will not be available for the game, but it is something the Salop staff are keeping an eye on.
Elliott Bennett got his first start in a Town shirt since early November on Saturday and did well, so he is expected to continue in the right wing-back position.
Ryan Bowman, who was excellent on Saturday in his return to the starting XI, will be looking to continue his fine form against his former club, for whom he featured more than 100 times during his time at the club before joining Shrewsbury.
Town are keeping up pursuit of play-off hopefuls Barnsley. The gap between the two sides is three points, but the Tykes have got two games in hand on Steve Cotterill’s side.
Town have still got to play all of the teams above them in what does look, on paper, to be a difficult run towards the end of the season, but for the moment they can only beat what is in front of them, and that is Exeter before making the trip to Lancashire to take on Accrington Stanley at the weekend.
They will be looking to get some revenge on the Stanley after their 1-0 win at the Meadow at the start of the season.
