Jamie Tolley: Shrewsbury need to avoid being an FA Cup upset story

Nothing at all against Eastleigh, this weekend’s hosts for Shrewsbury Town in round one of the competition.

They are from the National League and going to be a decent side. This is not going to be a straight-forward afternoon for Gavin Cowan’s men.

It's definitely going to be a tough task down in Hampshire - but this is the beauty of the FA Cup. You've got to go down there, you've got to get involved and enjoy the day, enjoy the moment and just get the job done.

I always think ‘let's get one of the minnows’, because then you go to their ground and it's a proper FA Cup day. You see all their fans with the tin foil FA Cups they have made at home.

It just really adds to the day.

But then you draw somebody like Eastleigh away and know they will be a decent outfit as well. I remember being on the radio when the draw was made and saying ‘that’s a nightmare’.

They are a full-time outfit, they will be confident in themselves, they will be confident in beating Shrewsbury. So it's got everything to be a difficult, difficult afternoon.

I believe it is purely about Town’s professionalism and just being fully switched on, fully committed to the game. I know obviously the main focus is League Two, and rightly so, but every club loves an FA Cup journey.

Shrewsbury need to be sticking to the plan that Gavin and the staff are going to come up with throughout the week.

They will do their research and give the players all the information that they need to go out and get the victory. So it's just about professionalism and ultimately showing them why Shrewsbury Town are a league side.

I was at the club when we lost 2-0 at Histon in 2004. I didn’t play that day but as a professional, going to a lower league side you always feel a bit of pressure.

There is that added expectation to go there and perform, to show I'm a Football League player and be professional.

And obviously if the result doesn't go your way then you're doubting yourself, you're doubting your teammates.

You don't want to be that team the TV panel is there talking about ‘there's a massive upset here’ on the highlights show. You don't want that, nobody wants that.

On the flip side, Town will hope Eastleigh is a step on the way to round three. Everybody wants to make the third round, where you can get amazing ties anywhere.

We had Everton, and you can get any big club and bring them to our place and get a result. I go out for a meal, for a print, and people still remember what they were doing to this day.

Shrewsbury will also want to respond from Saturday’s defeat to Gillingham, which felt the more flat as Gareth Ainsworth was able to win on his return.

I don't think the performance was too bad, I think we could have probably created more chances going forward but probably deserved a point.

I know Gav has said he doesn’t want to be a team that wins two, draws two, loses two. He wants that bit of consistency.