County head to Shropshire on Tuesday night to take on Shrewsbury Town, looking to build on Saturday’s late leveller at Barnsley and return to winning ways in the league.
County will go into the game at Croud Meadow with their tails up, after Louie Barry’s stoppage-time strike at Oakwell secured a well-deserved point for Dave Challinor’s side after a largely dominant second half.
It’s now just one defeat in seven for County since returning to the third tier, whilst we remain unbeaten away from home in all competitions this season. We currently sit ninth in the table, three places and two points below the play-off positions, with a game in hand on four of the sides above us.
Opponents Shrewsbury can be found at the opposite end of the table right now, sat in 23rd place after winning just one of their opening eight league fixtures so far this season.
The Shrews did come close to making that two last time out at home to Rotherham United, taking the lead against the Millers in the first half through George Lloyd, but a second-half penalty from Rotherham’s Jonson Clarke-Harris meant they had to settle for a point.
Our Opponents:
Shrewsbury Town are now into their tenth consecutive season playing in League One, after promotion in 2015 under Micky Mellon. This is comfortably the longest tenure of any side currently playing in the third tier (Burton Albion are next on seven).
Only twice in that time, however, have the Shrews managed to finish in the top half of the table, finishing third in 2017/18 and 12th in 2022/23, with much of their time at this level instead spent battling against relegation – with last season no exception.
They began the campaign under new management following the departure of Steve Cotterill over the Summer, with the Club moving to bring in former Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth midfielder Matt Taylor for just his second managerial role, after a previous spell in charge at Walsall.
He got off to a strong start with three wins from their opening five league outings, and despite following that up with a six-game run without a goal in the league, they found themselves sat in the top half of League One by mid-December following a 1-0 win away at Wycombe Wanderers.
Form and confidence collapsed over the festive period however, as Taylor presided over a run of seven defeats in eight league games, which saw the Shropshire side plummet down the league table. A 2-1 defeat at Peterborough United in January was the final nail in the coffin for the manager, who was dismissed with his side sat 19th in the league table – seven points above the relegation zone.
The shot-shy Shrews had managed just 18 goals in 28 league outings under Taylor and were slipping towards the bottom four at an alarming rate. In a bid to turn things around, the Club turned to a former manager in the form of Paul Hurst.
Former Grimsby Town boss, Hurst had previously spent two years at the Club from 2016-2018, guiding them to a third place finish and two Wembley appearances in 2017/18. They lost the League One play-off final to Rotherham United in extra-time that year, as well as the EFL Trophy final to Lincoln City, with Hurst departing shortly after to join Ipswich Town.
His second spell got off to a dream start with a 2-0 win away at Northampton Town, but that would prove to be one of only four wins from their remaining 18 league games, dragging them into the battle against the drop. They did enough to keep their head above water, confirming survival with a game to spare after a 1-1 draw at Charlton, but ended the campaign in 19th – just four points above the bottom four.
Hurst has overseen a significant squad overhaul in the Summer with 15 new additions, eight of which started their most recent league fixture at home to Rotherham United. On-loan Chelsea midfielder Leo Castledine in particular has caught the eye early on, with two goals in his first five appearances for the Club.
That overturn has perhaps inevitably resulted in a slow start this season, with six defeats from their first seven games in League One – the only exception being a superb 3-0 win over Leyton Orient at the end of August.
They’ve had a challenging run in terms of opposition too, already facing Peterborough United, Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic and Wrexham – but Hurst’s side were much better at the weekend against Rotherham.
They are not the only side to have suffered a slow start either, and they go into Tuesday night’s clash still just three points shy of the safety mark.
Match Stats:
- Tuesday night will be the 35th competitive meeting between these two sides, and the first in the league since April 2011. Shrewsbury have the slight historical edge, with 13 wins to County’s 12 in that time.
- County will be looking for a first away win against The Shrews since September 1995 – a 2-1 win secured thanks to two goals from Alun Armstrong. We are winless in our last five trips to Shropshire, losing four.
- Louie Barry is now the joint-top scorer in League One this season, grabbing his fifth goal in seven league games this season on Saturday. The Villa loanee has now scored 15 goals in 30 appearances for the Club.
