As the build up to this weekends derby between Walsall and Shrewsbury Town continues, Bescot Banter columnist Sam Wright previews the big game;
The Saddlers are starting to feel a bit of strain recently beginning to trouble our positive early start. Dean Smith and his men will be hoping we can turn our fortunes around Sunday when we meet Shrewsbury Town, in our first televised game this season.
The Saddlers are starting to feel a bit of strain recently beginning to trouble our positive early start. Dean Smith and his men will be hoping we can turn our fortunes around Sunday when we meet Shrewsbury Town, in our first televised game this season.
We go into this one off the back of 3 straight defeats in
all competitions, leaking 7 goals in those games and only managing 4 goals
ourselves, and in desperate need of a result. However the fans we greet the
fact that Cuvelier will be flying back in time for the game Sunday after he
captains the Belgium youngster in their game. The same cannot be said for Will
Grigg though, who will be out of the game to fulfill his international duties
for Northern Ireland. This leaves Dean Smith with a dilemma, having to make the
choice of either a formation change, or a replacement for Grigg to play up top
with Bowerman. By the looks of the Tuesday night side he must have be looking
at a 4-4-2 with Hemmings up top, but this didn’t come off too well so he may
have to reconsider.
Shrewsbury themselves are also having a tough time at the
moment. After promotion from the fourth tier last season they have struggled to
adapt to league one football, and currently sit 18th, just 2 points
away from the drop zone. They are also without a league goal in three games
now, and in the week were easily defeated by Crewe Alexandra despite a late
goal meaning the score was just 2-1. This result saw some fans even calling for
the manager’s head. Due to this, it is expected that they will make changes,
and may start on-loan Wolves striker Sam Winnall.
A fact that Walsall fans will like to hear going into this
one is that in recent times we have dominated the meetings between these two
sides. We have won 6 and drew 3 of the last 9 meetings. You have to go back to
1993 to see the last time we lost to the Shrews, which was a 1-0 home defeat in
what was then known as the Division Three.
Overall I feel this game really is a must win. As much as
the derby does mean a lot to many of us, it is the three points that are even
more important against a side who are on paper no more than average. Even with
our slightly shaky defence of late I do believe we will come out on top in big
match. And I’m sure the 1,400+ fans going down are with me on that. Come On
Walsall!
Prediction: Shrewsbury 0 – 1 Walsall
By: Sam Wright