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Marcus Braddock previews the game
With 2 home wins under their belts, Shrewsbury Town face a bit of a Derby with familiar adversaries this weekend....
It's fair to say that there is a little friendly rivalry between us and Hereford United. Two rural Shires, set next to each other are bound to have some sort of local competition, especially if they are in the same League, but this year even more has been added to our connection. As you will have read in October, our ex-manager Gary Peters joined the Bulls as Director of football and as grateful as I am for Gary's contribution to our football club, I hope he has a rotten weekend in footballing terms.
Hereford occupy 21st place after a difficult season fighting to stay clear of the relegation zones. Their fight has so far proved successful after a tricky start that saw them in the relegation zone throughout August and September. October saw a bit of a change on and off the pitch with Peters appointment and a 4 game unbeaten run that consisted of 3 wins and a draw. Since then Hereford have stayed out of the drop-zone despite a winless run of 8 games that ran from late October to the end of 2011. 2012 has seen a bit of an upsurge in fortunes for the Bulls with just 1 league defeat so far this year.
Like us, Hereford's big game this season was away against a premiership giant, beating Brentford 1-0 at home to earn their trip to Aston Villa where they lost 2-0. In the JPT Hereford were eliminated in the first round after a 4-1 away defeat to Bournemouth.
Head to Head
In 21 league games, we have beaten Hereford 11 times and lost 5. Our first meetings in the league were in the 73/74 season and were both 1-1 draws.Our best win against the Bulls came just last season with the 4-0 win at the Greenhouse Meadow, Hereford's best results against us were two 3-1 wins at home, 1 in 2008 and 1 in 1976. In the 2006/7 season we played each other 5 times after being drawn together in the F.A. Cup and the Football League Trophy.
Top Scorer
Tom Barkhuizen 7
Yoann Arquin 5
Delroy Facey 3
Nathan Elder 2
Steven Leslie 2
Sam Winnall 2
Harry Pell 2
Assists
Joe Colbeck 3
Harry Pell 2
Yoann Arquin 2
Benoit Dalibard 2
Ryan Green 2
Clean Sheets
7
Performer
Loan signing Tom Barkhuizen is currently Hereford's top scorer with 7 goals in 22 appearances for the Bulls.Barkhuizen has only just turned 19 and is a well thought of youth striker at his parent club Blackpool.
Referee
Michael Naylor from Yorkshire. Games this season 19. yellow cards 74, red cards 4.
Squadnews
Hereford will have to do without Benoit Dalibard who is serving out the last game of a suspension. Simon Clist and Joe Heath are both out because of groin problems and Stefan Stam may not feature after an injury last week against Oxford. New signing Ben Purkiss is available for selection.
Shrewsbury will be without Marvin Morgan (suspension) and Shane Cansdell Sherriff (Shoulder Ligament). New signing Romaine Sawyers will be available for selection
Prediction
Can I really do anything but predict a Shrewsbury win?Although we are going quite well in the league and Hereford doesn't seem to have won a game at home since late October, I still feel a little apprehensive about this one. The reason for apprehension is the involvement of Gary Peters, and in particular his record "Derby" games when he was with us. I know that Jamie Pitman is the manager, but I would be very surprised if a few tips were not offered from GP.
Apprehension aside, I think that we have enough to take the three points this weekend. Our away record is not too bad and given Hereford's home record, I will go for a 3-1 win for Shrewsbury Town!
COYB
Marcus Braddock
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ShrewsWeb spoke to Graham Turner to get his thought's ahead of the game
Graham Turner on Saturday's game...
Under normal circumstances, you'd look at the relative league positions and think that we should be winning the game. But the local derby element of it adds a bit of spice. I saw them play Bristol Rovers recently; they were going quite well, they'd equalised, then got a player sent off and that probably changed the course of the game. But they were very much in the game against Bristol Rovers. They have got a very direct style, a very much in your face sort of team who get it long and then get in after it and press the ball. Don't give the opposition a second to rest on the ball and pass it.
They have had one or two good results, particularly away from home over recent weeks. It's been a real hard battle for them so far this season but some of their away results have been impressive, I think they won at Burton, they won at Dagenham, they drew at Oxford and that's good going. Their home form has not been as good as they would have expected and that's the reason they're in trouble. They must be a little fragile in terms of confidence playing at home, we know what we have got to do, we know that we have got to take control of the game and put them under a lot of pressure.
Watch Graham Turner's prematch thoughts on ShrewsPlayer
