Manager Paul Simpson today called on his Shrewsbury squad to “stand up and be counted” at Morecambe tonight - where they could face ex-skipper Stewart Drummond.With Notts County and Wrexham the only other sides from the bottom six in action this evening, Town know a victory will go a long way towards guaranteeing their future status in the Football League.
But the pressure will be cranked up further if a miserable run of one victory in 19 games is extended further.
Despite again having his options limited by selection worries, Simpson this morning hinted he is considering changes for tonight’s encounter.
And, whatever team he selects, he is ordering a big performance at Christie Park to follow on from Saturday’s collapse in the 4-1 defeat at Chesterfield.
“We have gone through the weekend and looked at what we could have done better and now we are looking forward and getting ready to go again in what is a big, big game for us,” Simpson said.
“We are in a dogfight and a scrap - that is the truth of it.
“The lack of confidence has played a bit of a part in the last two games but that’s when you need players to be brave and stand up and be counted.
“We want the lads out there to put in a performance that is fully committed and full of the enthusiasm you would expect from a team near the bottom.”
Defender Graeme Lee is “doubtful” after requiring 20 stitches in a facial injury at the weekend while Kelvin Langmead (knee), Andy Cooke (ankle), David Hunt (hip) and Asa Hall (illness) are all unlikely to be available to Simpson.
But defender Darran Kempson is back in the Town ranks after being recalled from his loan spell at Accrington, and is likely to be in strong contention to start tonight.
Meanwhile, former Town captain Drummond is set to line up against his former club - despite an agreement struck between Sammy McIlroy and Gary Peters when the midfielder left Town for Morecambe in January.
“All I have been told is that Stewart Drummond will be available,” added Simpson.
“The agreement was between the two football clubs like we had with Macclesfield a few weeks ago (with Michael Symes and Neil Ashton).
“If he’s available it will be a bit disappointing but we can’t do anything about it.”
A string of key players are likely to be unavailable for Morecambe, including play-maker Garry Thompson, but leading scorer Jon Newby and former Telford defender Jim Bentley could be available after injury.
By James Garrison
11 Comments
Not more changes!. Isn’t the message getting across to this manager. He appears no better than GP with all his chopping and changing and it’s getting us nowhere. Stability is the key, I’ve said it before, just pick the side that John McMahon selected for Darlington and Rotherham and stick with it!
What we need is The Hump in the starting line up.
Desperate Dave - Changes are forced on him by injuries and out of form players.
dave i am praying you get less desperate as this season goes on. if those same 11 players are available i agree play them
I am sure the gaffer would love to be in the fortunate position of not having to make changes (and GP before him).
However in the real world there are injuries to contend with (or do we send them out on crutches).
Those that do play are so out of sorts that its either “accept more of the same” or make changes in an effort to turn things round.
Not much of a choice now is there.
Why keep harping back to the good old days when we got 2 points from 2 home games and scored 1 goal in the process. (Ok Ok I agree it was a 2 game unbeaten run) To me that hardly constitutes success and certainly there is no guarantee that the feat could be repeated.
if as a player i was publicly described by my manager as pathetic then i would really be looking forward to going up to morecambe on a wet tuesday night to “stand up and be counted”
pardon me for being negative but his motivational skills leave a lot to be desired..
how many wingers have we got at the club now? how many wings are there on the pitch?
Only Simpson can see who is up for it in training,and i’m sure he picks the ones who seem to want to play,it must be hard to select from this load of deadbeats.
Well done the lads,excellent and gritty performance to get a good point and more importantly get a nice wedge of confidence back in the side.Mossy a mid-field General whatever next?The Bevan boy looks like he could take over from Garner as he did a lot to take pressure off a make shift defence and what I also liked was that he didnt just make some very good saves he actually held on to the ball as well so saving all the panick when a balls bouncing around the goal mouth.
Once again WELL DONE now lets take that form into Sunday and send Wrexham down !!!!
Not there last night, but there appears to be a lot of positives coming from the game.
Agree with the comment that you need to look at the players in training and assess who is up for it. Our problem all season has not been the manager, facilities or whatever - it’s the players who have continually under-perform at this level. The fans and GP have been severely let down by them this season. Agree with Simpson - they have at times been pathetic. As for motivational tactics, we’ll the softly softly approach hasn’t worked all season. Calling them out looks like it provoked a reaction.
Poor players, fancy being called pathetic, doesn’t the manager realize
were a few points from being the poorest team in English league football.
What would the fans do next season if we played NON league football.The players have had it far too easy all season ,hope we can sign some good strong fit players who know where the goals are and can play the game next season without getting injured all the time let them earn their money by results,