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Tues 13th Mar 2001 - Shrewsbury previews |
| March Headlines |
Nationwide league action again tonight as City hope to put Saturday's defeat at
Lincoln behind them. City welcome back Josh Low but are withoutout injured strikers Rob Earnshaw and Gavin Gordan. Earnie hurt his knee at Lincoln and Gavin hurt his thigh in training last week. City therefore look to the pairing of Leo and Brayson up front for tonights crucial game. Low's return could see a return to the bench for Matt Brazier with Gabbidion moving to the left wing back role. City need to add some steel into the midfield and it maybe time to give Scott McCulloch a start alongside Willie Boland. Mark Bonner City's infuencial midfielder is back in training and City are still looking to sign a midfielder but for now the two central places will go to Boland and either Evans or McCulloch. Andy Legg returns to the side on Saturday and will resume his sweeper role allowing Rhys Weston to help in midfield as well. This game should have been played originally last November but with the Gay Meadow being under 3' of water the only action came from the Shropshire sub aqua team. There was animosity earlier this year when the game was re-arranged and was then called off less than 2 hours before kick off after several hundred City fans had already arrived in Shrewsbury. Shrews boss Kevin Ratcliffe will do City no favours, he was at the backbone of the City defence in 1993 when the Bluebirds were promoted but he now has to look after his own team and ensure they do not get dragged into the relegation fight at the bottom of Div 3. The Shrews are 9 points from the last place and have to play City twice, tonight and at Ninian Park on April 28th in City's last home game. A win for City tonight is so important. While defeat would not make a change in league position it would allow other teams a chance to claw back the slim cushion that City have. A win on the other had would again put clear daylight betwen the promotion and play off places. A win would also put back into second place and keep the pressure on Brighton. I think that the boys will come good tonight, they were given a right rollicking after failing to perform at Lincoln and hopefully Shrewsbury will feel the full force of the backlash. My prediction Shrewsbury 1 - 3 City. Preview from www.totalwales.com City’s 23-goal striker is ruled out by a knee injury sustained in Saturday’s 2-0 reverse at Lincoln. “We thought Earnie would be all right but he was a bit sore when he kicked the ball in training today so there’s no point risking him,” said chief coach Alan Cork. Gavin Gordon is still unfit but wingback Josh Low will probably be recalled after serving a three-match suspension. Captain Andy Legg is poised to return for Saturday’s home game against Carlisle after completing his three-match ban tonight. City have taken only one point from the first two games without Legg, called up yesterday by Wales manager Mark Hughes for the World Cup ties against Armenia and the Ukraine later this month. “Leggy has fitted in nicely and played well since we switched him to centre-back,” said Cork. “If he is picked to play for Wales he won’t let them down. He keeps himself very fit and his experience will stand him in good stead.” Cork is looking for a vast improvement on Saturday’s lacklustre display at Sincil Bank. “We didn’t play well. We were sloppy,” he said. “But we’ve only had two really bad games since I took over - the other one was Plymouth - so I can’t be too upset with my players. “There are plenty of points still to play for and I believe this was just a hiccup we can overcome.” Shrewsbury manager Kevin Ratcliffe has tipped City for automatic promotion. But the former Wales captain, would dearly love to clip the wings of the Bluebirds for whom he played such a major part as they became Third Division champions in 1992-93. To inflict back-to-back defeats on City for the first time this season, his team will need to penetrate a defence in which David Hughes has been such a commanding figure since his £450,000 transfer from Shrewsbury a month ago. Preview from www.ananova.com The former Notts County star completed a two-match ban against Exeter on Saturday and will be pushing for a starting berth following the disappointing 1-0 defeat at St James Park. But Ratcliffe is without suspended duo Luke Rodgers and Ryan Lowe, who will both be back in contention when Town entertain Leyton Orient on Saturday. Assistant boss Dave Fogg believes Shrewsbury will have to be on top form against the promotion-chasing Bluebirds, who suffered an unexpected 2-0 defeat against Lincoln at the weekend. Fogg said: "They are one of the best teams in the division and we know we have to compete with them." Cardiff City boss Alan Cork will have Josh Low back from suspension for the Bluebirds' trip to Gay Meadow. But the former Wimbledon striker is without veteran defender Andy Legg, who completes a three-match ban against Kevin Ratcliffe's side. City will be looking to bounce back from their surprising 2-0 defeat against Lincoln on Saturday - and assistant boss Ian Butterworth is happy that there has not been a long break between games. He said: "The beauty of it is the games come around quickly and we will be looking to get the Lincoln defeat out of our system." |
Copyright Michael Morris 2001.
