Stevenage v Shrewsbury preview: Salop looking to live up to Elland Road standards
Shrewsbury Town will be looking to replicate their first-half performance against Leeds when they make the trip to Stevenage on Saturday.
Town showed a new side to their game in Yorkshire on Wednesday night with their front-foot approach. But it is hard to gauge how their clash against recently-promoted Stevenage will go. Town’s hosts also won on the opening day of the League One season last weekend and then they knocked Championship Watford out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, so spirits will be high.
Taylor said his Town side will stick to their principles while adapting them depending on the opponent, so one would expect them to be on the front foot.
He said: “The process of training and the process of the players understanding how we want to play against the opposition is not easy.
“We have an idea of what we want them to do but we are asking them to do things differently than what they are used to.
“They (the players) were away in front of 35,000 people at Elland Road on Wednesday and we are asking them to give everything they have got and to get after the opposition.
“We could easily have said we are going to sit in a low block, but we thought no we are going to stick to our principles.
“While our principles remain the same – every match looks different in terms of how we use them, .
“I remember my first press conference, saying that this team will represent me and they will work and they will run and they will give everything.
“You cannot question that after the other night and if you have that as a base, coupled with their ability, you have an opportunity to win football matches and we are going to have to do it again this weekend.”
Town are still waiting for Max Mata’s work permit to come through – he is ready and waiting but he cannot feature until it does.
Personally, for Mata, it must be immensely frustrating as he was in the midst of the season before he moved to Shrews, but it should be through any day now.
The is much more concern for Elliot Thorpe, though.
He has had a scan on a back injury which kept him out of the squad for the game at Elland Road.
The Town boss said they had tried to manage the pain, but nothing had worked yet, so they are hoping to find out more over the next few days.
They were boosted by the return of Chey Dunkley to the squad on Wednesday – the Town skipper missed all of pre-season with an Achilles injury, but he now seems to be on the road to recovery.
It is hard to know what to expect from the game as the two times Salop have played this season they have produced two completely different performances, albeit that is most likely down to the opposition in front of them.
An intriguing encounter awaits as Taylor’s men hope to get their first win on the road.
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