Derby v Shrewsbury preview: Salop's season-defining run begins at the Rams

Fresh on the back of a brilliant, comfortable win against promotion rivals Wycombe last week, Shrews have another stern test when they head to Pride Park this weekend.

Paul Warne’s Derby sits just a few places above Shrews in the table having won in midweek thanks to goals from David McGoldrick and Lewis Dobbin – they now have a lead of nine points over the Shropshire side.

But Town’s destiny is still very much in their own hands. They may be trailing by what appears to be a big margin, but they still have to play all the sides above them in the league – apart from the Chairboys, who they eased past at the Meadow last weekend.

Positive results in those games would not only benefit Town’s points tally, but also mean they are ensuring their promotion rivals are dropping points.

It looks like a tough few days because shortly after their trip to Derbyshire Steve Cotterill’s men will be back on the road again to face another side hopeful of finishing in the top six – Peterborough United.

They are a team Town are yet to play in the league after their first meeting was called off due to cold weather in the UK.

Derby are a force to be reckoned with on home soil – they have won nine out of their last 11 games at Pride Park, so it will be a tough test for Cotterill’s men.

The sides did play out a 0-0 draw earlier in the campaign – a fixture that Shrewsbury showed their resilience in front of a packed-out Meadow.

Support is something the boys in blue and amber will have again this weekend after it was revealed they had sold the 1,400 allocation of tickets for the trip, and therefore Derby had awarded them another 700 more. And with those also sold, another 560 went on sale yesterday.

The Town players will be well backed in what is likely to be a huge crowd with the home side regularly getting attendances of more than 25,000.

Cotterill’s side have the advantage of no midweek game, which as previously mentioned is a luxury Warne does not have.

Salop will be strong again as long as the players who featured last weekend come through the week of training unscathed.

McGoldrick, who not long ago was playing in the Premier League with Sheffield United, is an obvious one for Shrewsbury to watch out for – he has 15 goals in 18 League One starts.

The Rams’ record at home has seen them score 25 goals in League One since the end of October and in that same time period they have only conceded on four occasions.

They did lose to West Ham in the FA Cup and they were on the wrong side of a thrashing at Barnsley not long ago when they lost 4-1. It will be an intriguing encounter.