Shrewsbury Town vs Gillingham: Salop need a win to kick off a big week
Shrewsbury Town must kick Gillingham while they are down.
Tomorrow’s visit of the out-of-sorts Kent outfit kicks off a huge four days for John Askey – with a trip to Walsall on the horizon, writes Lewis Cox.
He must make it two Montgomery Waters Meadow wins from two and give the home crowd something to cheer about after last weekend’s disappointment in Scunthorpe.
Askey’s league record reads just one win from nine and it is essential that run improves over the next handful of games.
And the visit of Steve Lovell’s Gills is a perfect chance to inject some confidence in the ranks.
After two League One wins from two to start their season, the Priestfield side’s form has bombed. They have lost seven from eight and not won a match in nine games.
That includes five defeats in a row, leaving them 21st, one place below Town.
Their confidence is clearly shot and Town must get in their faces early and pepper the Gills’ box, not allowing a defence that has conceded 21 goals in those nine games, a moment’s piece.
The visitors, winners of a Wembley play-off final against Shrews in 2009, are in dire need of a turnaround.
Boss Lovell is sticking to his principles despite the woeful run. He said: “Defensively we need to stop conceding goals. We will continue to play the football I want to play. It’s a very important game on Saturday. We are all trying very hard to get back on the winning track.”
Town desperately struggled to carve out any meaningful chances at Scunthorpe while they were on top in the first period.
As the old cliché goes, you only worry when you aren’t creating chances, so Askey will want to prove that blunt display was a one-off. There was a smidgen of goodwill whipped up after the 2-0 home victory over Southend a couple of weeks ago.
This is a perfect chance to build on that.
The trip to the Banks’s Stadium four days later is, perhaps, just as crucial for the Salop chief.
Shrews have endured a miserable 25 years at the home of their Black Country rivals, 13 games without a victory since Dean Spink’s winner in December 1993.
Many bosses have tried and failed since. Dean Keates’ Saddlers have enjoyed a fine start to the season, so Town are by no means expected to win the game.
But any form of dominant Walsall win, in which Shrewsbury fail to compete in the frenetic and feisty affair.
Askey will want to go to Walsall on the back of a morale-boosting win from tomorrow’s Gillingham visit and may ring the changes after being disheartened by his side’s 15-minute second-half collapse at Scunthorpe.
He gave the back-up contingent a run-out against Burton in a practice match at St George’s Park on Wednesday and Fejiri Okenabirhie and Charlie Colkett netted in a 2-1 win. Those two have not been near the league starting XI since the opening day against Bradford.
Town fans would, undoubtedly, want to see them involved, while Josh Laurent – another who played against the Brewers – must be pushing for a comeback.
All have given the boss food for thought.
Tomorrow is not quite a ‘September six-pointer’ – if such a thing exists – but it could shape the next month or so.
The opposition: Injuries taking their toll in horror Gills run
Take the creative sparks out of any team in the world and they are likely to struggle – especially those in the lower leagues of English football.
This has been the story of Gillingham’s turbulent season so far as, despite a bright opening, they are struggling on a torrid run of form ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Shrewsbury.
A succession of ankle injuries have hampered Steve Lovell’s men and their woeful run of results includes five defeats on the spin and seven from the last eight games.
The Kent side have dropped into the bottom four of League One, although they are only keeping John Askey’s Town out of the drop zone on goal difference.
And those ankle problems are taking their toll on the Priestfield outfit.
Star midfielders Regan Charles-Cook and Callum Reilly have been struggling and the injury list does not stop there.
Dean Parrett, Billy Bingham and Luke O’Neill have all struggled with similar injuries at the detriment of the side that finished four places and six points above the drop last season.
Elliott List and Tottenham loanee Connor Ogilvie are also sidelined.
Former playing hero Lovell, whose only previous permanent management experience was in non-league, took caretaker charge last October after Ady Pennock was sacked.
He did an admirable job in leading the club to safety and, during his first summer in charge, made just a handful of changes to what is a fairly small squad.
Injury problems have led him to changing formation from his trusted 4-4-2 diamond, but with little success.
But while he has endured bad fortunes in the treatment room, there is no excusing Gillingham’s leaky backline that have conceded 21 goals in nine games.
Lovell said this week that he will continue to demand the same style of football from his side, who have been open at times in recent weeks.
The 4-2 reverse last time out against high-flying Peterborough offered encouragement while a 4-1 defeat to Sunderland was by no means one-sided.
But most Gills supporters are firmly behind the manager as they see the exciting brand of football he is trying to impose on the side – albeit with some talented options sidelined.
Likely line-up:
Subs: Arnold, Bolton, Norburn, Barnett, Gnahoua, Amadi-Holloway, John-Lewis.
Gillingham (4-4-2 diamond): Holy; Fuller, Ehmer, Zukuani, Garmston; Parrett, Byrne, Reilly, Parker; Hanlan, Eaves
The boss says:
Steve Lovell
“Shrewsbury are always a well-organised team, they are disciplined and it will be hard to break them down.”
Memory lane:
Goals from Mike Jackson, Dave Hibbert, Graham Coughlan, Shane Cansdell-Sheriff, Grant Holt and Ben Davies (2) saw Gills mauled 7-0 in September 2008.
Key man:
Shaun Whalley
The winger has had a couple of quiet games and needs to be at his influential best in a crunch game at the bottom.
Danger man:
Brandon Hanlan
Snapped up from Charlton Athletic in the summer by boss Steve Lovell to provide more athleticism and pace in the Gills ranks.
The 21-year-old forward caught the eye while on loan with non-league Bromley last term and is a livewire to deal with.
Has skill and ability to test Town’s defence.
