Shrewsbury v Exeter: Town are aiming to put an end to unwanted statistic

Salop have not won consecutive league fixtures since the 1-0 win at Oxford followed by the 3-2 home win against Port Vale in the 2022/23 campaign.

That was part of a six-match winning streak under former boss Steve Cotterill, which was ended by a 0-0 draw away against this evening’s opponents Exeter.

Town’s form since then has been inconsistent, and their failure to win two games in succession in the league has, in part, contributed to their lowly position in the third tier of English football.

Last campaign they did win back-to-back matches, the victory over Notts County in the FA Cup and Wycombe Wanderers were valuable, yet they are still waiting for it in league action.

But after the 5-3 victory against Crawley Town on Saturday they have another opportunity to put it behind them.

They welcome an Exeter side, led by Gary Caldwell, who can rise to fourth with a victory in Shropshire.

The Grecians have had an excellent start to the season, they have won five of their opening nine clashes and have the added advantage of not playing at the weekend due to the international break.

Town boss Paul Hurst is well aware of the threat they pose and has highlighted former Shrewsbury Town player Ryan Woods and described him as ‘integral’ to Exeter’s play.

“If you talk about formations, I think if we said to lads this is what they play, then there would then be parts of the game which they would then think, well that is not what you have told us,” Hurst said about Exeter.

“There are some rotations in there, they try to get overloads in certain areas of the pitch.

“Being aware of them is fine, but actually stopping them can be a different one. They do certainly like to keep the ball, they have Ryan Woods, who Shrewsbury fans will be more than aware of.

“He is integral to all their build-up play, but then at the top end of the pitch they have brought some experience in with Josh Magennis and they have also got wide players who possess pace.

“They are good at what they do. That is the truth of it and I think they do make some small tweaks along the way depending on what they are coming up against.”

Salop will be without Aaron Pierre and Luca Hoole, who have been on international duty and have not been involved in the preparations for the clash.

Pierre did not get back into the country until Wednesday, while Luca Hoole was a 64th-minute substitute in Wales under-21s’ 4-2 defeat to Slovakia on Tuesday.

Exeter’s Josh Magennis is in a similar position, he played for Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening having come on as an 85th-minute substitute – he got on the scoresheet in that time, too.