Shrewsbury v Walsall preview: Salop looking to continue making strides forward
An EFL Trophy victory over one of their nearest rivals can only be a good thing for Shrewsbury Town at the moment.
The Salop players would have been short of belief at the start of the season. They began the campaign in disastrous fashion - failing to score in any of their opening three league matches.
They backed that up with a 4-1 thrashing at Notts County, a side who, at the time, were in just as rotten form as Town and their outlook seemed bleak.
But since then Shrews have improved. They do not have a win to show for their efforts in the fourth tier, yet they were excellent in the second half against Swindon but lost due to a 93rd-minute winner.
They then went on to beat Chelsea under-21s last in this competition, and then, despite a host of chances, failed to get the better of Accrington Stanley last weekend.
The next step on the progression is to beat Barnet this weekend and get that first win. That is what all Salop fans want.
But in the meantime, there is an EFL Trophy game to deal with. A competition that is as close to a pre-season friendly as you can get once the campaign has officially started.
A win against the Saddlers, who are managed by Mat Sadler, a former fan-favourite in Shropshire as a player, will only see Town continue to put some building blocks in place.
It was against Walsall in November last year, where Shrews produced one of their most inept performances of the previous campaign.
The game finished 3-0 at Bescot Stadium, but that was no true reflection of how the clash panned out. Town were managerless shortly after Paul Hurst had been sacked, and they were in the lowest of low ebbs.
Tommy McDermott has now completed his suspension. He has missed the last three league games due to the red card he picked up in the second half against Colchester.
With the rest of the Town players being busy in the last fortnight, you would expect the Burnley loanee to come into the team for this clash.
George Lloyd, who has a hamstring injury, will most likely not be risked, while other players on the fringes of the squad come into contention for the game.
Shrews: Brook, Hoole, Nsiala, Stubbs, Boyle, Benning, McDermott, Biggins, Perry, Kabia, Marquis.
Subs: Clucas, Anderson, Stewart, England, Sang, Gray.
