Shrewsbury v Morecambe preview: Salop looking to give fans yet more Meadow cheer
Shrewsbury Town will be searching for their fifth home win in succession when they return to action in Shropshire this weekend.
A long time has passed since Town visited Morecambe on the opening day of the season in what was a competitive clash that ended 0-0.
Since then Town have had a lot of success on the pitch as they currently occupy ninth place in League One after a wonderful start to 2023.
Town’s home form has been a particular stand out and they are looking to add to their victories over Cambridge, Forest Green, Port Vale and Wycombe when the Shrimps arrive at the Meadow this weekend.
It has been a long week for Shrews which saw them travel to Derby on Saturday before doing the return trip to Peterborough on Tuesday – which ended in a 2-1 defeat thanks to Frankie Kent’s late header.
They will be looking to bounce back from that game which they did not deserve to lose. Steve Cotterill made three changes in Cambridgeshire on Tuesday night and switched formations – it worked well in the second half of the game, so it will be interesting to see if Cotterill persists with that this weekend. He also gave Tom Bloxham and Rekeil Pyke rare starts, and only time will tell if he thinks they did enough to keep their places in the starting XI.
Killian Phillips is unlikely to feature in the game after he spent Saturday night in hospital following a clash with Derby’s Eiran Cashin. The midfielder has improved since the weekend, but given the severity of the knock he took it perhaps seems unlikely he will return to the team this soon.
It looks like it will be hard for Town to mount a play-off challenge now with just 11 games remaining in the season. They trail sixth-placed Derby by nine points after the last round of games, which would require a huge swing.
But regardless of play-off hopes it has still been a hugely successful season for Cotterill’s men – they went past last season’s tally of 50 points with the win at Wycombe a few weekends ago.
The Town boss sets incredibly high standards, though, and he will be keen to make sure his players match those as they seek a top-half finish at the very least.
Two set-piece goals would have disappointed the boss in midweek in a game where there was very little between two evenly-matched teams.
It is not something Salop have done all too often though – they have been very good at defending and scoring from them for the majority of the season.
The Shrimps have so much to play for themselves. They are currently sat in the relegation places, trailing 20th-placed Accrington Stanley by a point while also having played two games more.
Derek Adams’ side will be well up for it when they arrive at the Montgomery Waters Meadow coming off the back of draws against Cambridge United and Bolton Wanderers.
