Next Up: Exeter City vs Shrewsbury Town
It speaks volumes for the vast improvement on recent performances that City could be slightly disappointed to only leave promotion-chasing Reading with a point on Tuesday night. But for a bit more composure in front of goal, a few luckier bounces and a referee who understands that it is possible to give away teams the odd decision such as penalties, City could easily have won. One thing that was noticeable particularly in the second half was that City looked to play more quickly than usual, something supporters have been crying out for and stark contrast with the turgid 1-1 draw with Northampton last week – and more of the same will be in order with two successive home games against sides also in trouble at the bottom. Gary Caldwell went with Caleb Watts and Ben Purrington as wing-backs, and the performances of both should lead to them keeping their places although if Caldwell wants to go more attacking Vincent Harper is available. Ed Turns made an assured league debut and contributed to City’s strong defensive shape alongside MacDonald and Hartridge.
Having changed manager, Shrewsbury were hoping to turn their season around by appointing media darling but anti-Football Gareth Ainsworth as manager. Early signs were positive with the Shrews recording wins over Birmingham and Wrexham under his tenure, but otherwise the renaissance hasn’t happened, and Shrewsbury go into Saturday’s trip to Devon eight points from safety following a 0-0 draw on Tuesday night against the side in 20th, Bristol Rovers. That draw ended a run of four successive defeats, but Ainsworth knows now that they have to turn draws into wins if they are to perform a great escape. Only Wigan and Stevenage have scored fewer goals than Shrewsbury, and their task is harder given their top scorer John Marquis is currently suspended following his record-breaking red card at Peterborough last week. George Lloyd (five) and Tom Bloxham (four) will need to step up, while two players will hope to impress at their former employers – Jamal Blackman and David Wheeler both played under Ainsworth at Wycombe and have followed him to Shrewsbury.
The Sky cameras were present for the reverse fixture on a Thursday night, where goals from Kamari Doyle and Josh Magennis sealed a 2-0 win for City. Last season’s match at SJP came during City’s awful run and there was some respite in a 0-0 draw that will not live long in the memory. That win back in October saw City move into the lead in league head to heads with 19 wins to Shrewsbury’s 18, 16 matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Thomas Parsons
Assistant Referees: Darren Wilding and Thomas Staten
Fourth Official: Aaron Farmer
Just the one game for Thomas Parsons in charge of Exeter, which was the 0-0 in November at St James Park against Lincoln City which saw Ryan Woods sent off.
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Interview with Alex Hartrdige