Match Previews

Carabao Cup Preview | Shrewsbury Town (A)

27th August 2024

Wanderers continue their Carabao Cup campaign at the Crowd Meadow this evening against Shrewsbury Town in the Second Round of the competition.

Ian Evatt's side will be looking to get back to winning ways and secure their place in round three.

Wanderers last reached the Third Round in 2017 after beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 at home in Round Two.

Shrewsbury's only victory so far this season came in the First Round where they beat League Two opposition Notts County on penalties.

Tonight's hosts haven't reached the Third Round in the past nine seasons. However in 2014, Salop enjoyed a successful cup run where they reached the Fourth Round losing to Chelsea 2-1.

Manager quotes:

Ian Evatt: "That is the way football works, it always gives you another chance.

“We have another chance on Tuesday and then a home game before the international break, against Exeter in the league. We need three points to build some momentum.

"Every game is an opportunity for the lads to impress and try to get themselves in the team regularly, it is part of football.

“Having these games - especially on Tuesday, but also the Mansfield and Barrow games – will give us the opportunity to get these lads valuable minutes to get them ready to play consistently in the league.”

Shrewsbury Boss Paul Hurst: “Bolton changed their team around quite a bit in the first tie and looking at their line-up and bench on Saturday they have a lot more options available to them than we have.

“So I’m not quite sure what team Ian will pick. They lost at Charlton, a tough place to go and I’m sure they will be right up there this season as well. We know what Bolton are, one of the favourites to win promotion, so we can’t get into Ian’s mind of how he’ll approach it."

Team news:

Ian Evatt is likely to make changes to his side allowing new signings and returning injured players to get up to speed in this early part of the season.

Wanderers have the advantage of a larger squad, allowing them to share the minutes amongst the players whereas Paul Hurst has admitted Shrewsbury do not have the same luxury.

Loan signing Josh Kayode felt his calf in Shrewsbury's defeat to Huddersfield Town which means the striker will not be likely to feature this evening.

Two more Shrewsbury summer signings will miss the visit of Wanderers in the form of midfielder Jordan Rossiter and centre-back Josh Feeney who are suffering with a knee injury and a hamstring issue respectively.

Form guide:

Of course Wanderers were victorious in their First Round tie over Mansfield Town after going through on penalties with a much rotated squad.

Ian Evatt's side started the league season with a win over Leyton Orient before picking up a point at home to Wrexham and falling to defeat against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

It's been a disappointing start to the season for Shrewsbury who have lost every game apart from their penalty shootout victory over Notts County.

Defeats to Stevenage, Peterborough and Huddersfield Town have left Salop bottom of League One.