Shrewsbury Town could have 9,000 tickets for Arsenal game

Shrewsbury Town Football Club could be given 9,000 tickets for itheir glamour Carling Cup third round tie against Premier League giants Arsenal.

The club have been handed the dream tie against the Premier League outfit at the Emirates Stadium following their 3-1 defeat of Premier League newboys Swansea last week.

Graham Turner's men will be hoping to stage an upset against the Gunners, who endured a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

Town are due to face Arsenal in the week commencing September 19.

Ian Bebbington, operations manager for Shrewsbury Town, today said they were hoping for a good following at the Emirates which has a stadium capacity of 60,361.

He said: "The ticket allocation is normally based on 15 per cent of their capacity. I think the players put in a good shift against Derby in the first round and Swansea last week.

"The players will give it a good go and the thing is with Arsenal that no matter what happens it will still be a memorable occasion."

Mr Bebbington said the club had not yet been informed of whether the match will be chosen for live Sky TV coverage but admitted it was one of the best ties of the round.

Town have already claimed one Premier League scalp in this competition, with goals from Marvin Morgan, Mark Wright and Nicky Wroe seeing off Swansea City in the second round and will be hoping for a second on their trip to the capital.

The victory marked the first time since 1993/94 that the club has reached the third round of the League Cup and the win was the club's first victory over a top flight opponent since Nigel Jemson helped Town knock Everton out of the FA Cup in 2003 with a 2-1 win.

Other stand-out ties of the third round draw include a West London derby between Chelsea and Fulham, a trip to Elland Road for Manchester United to face their old foes Leeds and Brighton hosting Liverpool at their brand new stadium.