Accrington Stanley preview: Shrewsbury Town supporting cast queuing up at John Askey's door for a first team shot

The Shrews chief is looking for just a second League One win of the season tomorrow, but faces one of the division’s in-form sides.

League Two champions Accrington Stanley, unbeaten in 10 and sitting fifth, are only trailing Portsmouth and Peterborough for points taken in that run.

Askey’s Montgomery Waters Meadow squad depth is significant, with 16 new faces added over the close-season he is not short on options. It is a bulky squad even with half-a-dozen out on loan.

A number of players have played only a few minutes and the Town boss admitted discussions in his office with regard to a lack of game time are a common theme.

“I have somebody knocking on my door most days so it’s something I’m quite used to!” Askey said.

“You’ve never got the right answers because if somebody isn’t playing the only right answer if for them is to be playing.

“You can come out with all sorts of rubbish to them but at the end of the day it’s whether their name’s on the team sheet.

“Sometimes there’s a genuine reason why they’re not playing but as a footballer, nowadays, you have to accept it with the size of the squads.”

Town have won just one league game this term since Askey’s appointment. They have only lost twice in 10 games but too many draws have hampered any chance of climbing the table.

Askey has largely stuck with the same 12 or 13 players so far this season.

A turbulent opening week of the campaign, with various comings and goings, saw Town line up against Bradford with Kieran Kennedy, Charlie Colkett and Doug Loft in their XI. They haven’t been near starting in the league since.

Ryan Haynes is another who has dropped out of the team, as has last season’s right-back James Bolton while striker Fejiri Okenabirhie has not started a league game, and likewise Arthur Gnahoua.

New signing Aaron Amadi-Holloway spent a spell on the sidelines as Lenell John-Lewis led the line. Midfielder Josh Laurent – who caught the eye in the opening weeks – has not started in almost a month.

When asked how a manager keeps a big squad happy, Askey replied: “You don’t, that’s the answer.

“If players are happy not playing then there’s something wrong with the mentality. You can’t keep everybody happy.

“If you’re winning games then the squad tends to look after itself and people have to go along with it. If you’re not winning games then it becomes harder to keep everybody happy.

“They’re then saying ‘we’re not winning, why aren’t I playing?’

“But that’s the art of management, I suppose, trying to keep everything together if one or two aren’t happy.”

Askey’s new 4-2-3-1 system seemed to suit Salop at Walsall and it would not be a surprise to see the manager stick to his guns.

He added: “What you want is a settled team that’s winning. Then if there’s an injury or loss of form then people can come in. It’s also for them to know when they get in they can stay in, then it becomes competition for places. That’s what you’re trying to create.”

The opposition

What a start to the League One season they are having.

Accrington Stanley are certainly making punters sit up and take note by adjusting to life in the third tier seamlessly after last season’s League Two title-winning year.

John Coleman’s work is worshipped in that particular corner of the north west. Now in the fourth year of his second spell in charge, the ex-forward – a brief Macclesfield team-mate of John Askey – has guided his side on a magnificent run.

Stanley began the season in the worst possible manner, with a disappointing home defeat to a poor Gillingham side – but they certainly learned their lesson.

The Wham Stadium side have not lost in the league since. Ten games without defeat.

The run, five wins and five draws, has taken them up to fifth in League Two.

Remarkably, given their limited budget, they are level on points with the well-fancied and heavily-backed Sunderland. Stanley are far more than the sum of their parts.

The clichéd ‘team spirit’ drum is often banged in football but it seems to mean that bit more in Coleman’s camp.

There are a few similarities between the momentum Stanley are riding and that which carried Paul Hurst’s Shrewsbury last season.

Hurst dampened expectations by wanting to hit 50 points before anything else.

Coleman, who first managed Stanley from 1999 to 2012, where he began in the Northern Premier League, has done quite the opposite. He stated from day one that his Stanley side are a top-half team. Early indications are proving it.

The visitors are likely to stick with the tried-and-trusted 4-4-1-1 away from home. Last season’s League Two golden boot winner Billy Kee is backed up by Sam Finlay with the talented Sean McConville on one flank and former Salop man Jordan Clark on the other.

Their only fitness doubt is skipper Seamus Conneely (groin), but better squad options – including Newcastle loanee Daniel Barlaser – means his loss isn’t felt as much as it may once have been.

Stanley create chances. Coleman’s style is to get the ball down and the full-backs high. Askey’s defence have to be on their mettle tomorrow.

Town are in dire need of a home win but, in Stanley, they find a well-oiled machine used to winning games, whose spirit will carry them far this season.

Key man

Shaun Whalley

Used in the ‘No.10’ position in midweek and it worked well. Will hope for the same impact against one of his former sides.

Dangerman

Billy Kee

Named League Two Player of the Year after firing Stanley to the title, Kee has continued his excellent form this season.

Already on five goals, the striker is the embodiment of this team thanks to his never-say-die approach.

Bagged the winner from the penalty spot in last weekend’s victory at Walsall.

Memory lane

Andy Mangan’s double, either side of Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Connor Goldson goals, saw Town beat Stanley 4-0 in League Two in August 2014.

John Coleman:

"They have still got good players and they are still capable of winning games at this level. We are expecting as tough a game as we’ve had this season."

Predicted line-ups:

Shrewsbury Town (4-2-3-1): Coleman; Emmanuel, Waterfall, Sadler (c), Beckles; Norburn, Grant; Gilliead, Whalley, Angol; Amadi-Holloway.

Subs: Arnold (gk), Bolton, Laurent, Docherty, Barnett, Okenabirhie, John-Lewis.

Accrington Stanley (4-2-3-1): Ripley; Johnson, Hughes, Ihiekwe, Anderton; Clark, Barlaser, Brown, McConville; Finley; Key.