Sam Ricketts set for a Shrewsbury Town shake-up

Ricketts was bereft of options for Tuesday night’s thrilling FA Cup tie at Wolves, where several of his new signings were ineligible.

But the Town boss will welcome back almost an entire squad to select from for Saturday’s crunch Memorial Stadium clash, which sees 20th host 23rd in League One.

Ricketts has said the bulk of players who have played in every match during his two-month reign have looked tired, with busy Shrewsbury playing on average every four days.

“We’ll assess the players, there were some outstanding performances (at Wolves) but we have to gauge now can they go again?” Ricketts said.

“If they can’t, it’s not a problem. They’ve played an awful lot of football, it’s up to us now to gauge physically where they’re at so when they walk out on to that pitch on Saturday they can be feeling they can go again.

“If anyone’s feeling slightly off it, 80 or 90 per cent, it’s not enough. We need players who are bang at it now every game.”

New signings Jonathan Mitchell, a goalkeeper on loan from Derby, defenders Ro-Shaun Williams and Scott Golbourne and forward Tyrese Campbell were all unable to play at Molineux but come into contention for a starting spot in Bristol.

It is thought fellow new loan signing Stefan Payne – who last month returned to Shrewsbury from Bristol Rovers – will not be permitted to play against his parent club. Dave Edwards (groin) is stepping up his comeback from injury and made the bench at Wolves, while Shaun Whalley has returned from his muscle injuries.

Town will be without new signing Romain Vincelot, who came off with what appeared a bad knee injury in midweek.

Ricketts has challenged his men to go again. He said: “Now as a professional footballer you have to go again. We’re back to our bread and butter now which is Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

“As a coaching staff and manager, yes I’ve already looked at them, watched a couple of their games, because it’s a really important game for us.

“We have to go there with the same level of commitment and attitude that we’ve shown, not just at Wolves but generally – although there’s a couple of games where we haven’t and they stand out like a sore thumb. They’re the ones that really hurt you more than anything.”