We look ahead to this evenings game with Evesham United
Due to no ISDN lines at Evesham we won't be able to bring ShrewsPlayer subscribers full match commentary this evening
We will however be updating the website and the @shrewsweb Twitter
Marcus Braddock previews the game
Is it really time for a preview? It only seems a couple of weeks since we were celebrating promotion to League 1 and now we're back in pre-season with a game against Evesham. Evesham United F.C. will be playing in the Southern League South and West this season after suffering relegation from the Southern Premier League last season. The club has been in existence since 1945, after returning servicemen set up the club. The Robins play at the Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium, having moved from their original Crown Meadow ground in 1969 over the summer.
Performer
Midfielder Neil MacKenzie started his career in the mid 1990s with Stoke City and spent 4 years with them before moving on to Cambridge United. The 36 year old played for a number of clubs including Blackpool, Scunthorpe and Notts County before dropping into the “non-league” game in 2009. MacKenzie was also the first professional footballer to appear on the Channel 4 programme “Countdown” and won 8 games in the show which meant qualification to the quarter finals of the show. He was beaten in the quarter final by the eventual winner of the series.
Squad news
We have a fair few new faces this season with many players moving on to other clubs. Graham Turner is looking to involve everyone in this game; we should see all of our new faces as well as some familiar ones. In case you missed them the new players are as follows:
Goalkeeper - Chris Weale
Goalkeeper - Joe Anyon
Defender - Darren Jones
Midfield - Asa Hall
Defence/Midfield/Forward - Paul Parry
Midfield - Luke Summerfield
Midfield - Aaron Wildig
Midfield/Defence - Rob Purdie
Ryan Doble - Forward
Prediction
As per last season, I will start by saying how difficult this prediction will be. Without meaning to seem arrogant, the result of this game may be more important to Evesham than it will be to us as we will be looking to sharpen our fitness and they will be playing what would be considered a bigger club. But as always I will be going for a Shrewsbury victory by a couple of goals, 3-1 to Shrewsbury Town.
Admission
Town fans can pay on the gate this evening with admission costing £9 for adults, £5 for OAPs and U16s.
ShrewsWeb spoke to Graham Turner to get his thought's ahead of the game
On the purpose of this friendly game...
You want to get a game or two under your belt and have a look at how the new lads are looking, how they've settled in. We've started to work in training on a little bit of team formation and starting to get that right. Obviously Evesham are a little low down in the pecking order in football terms, it's a game, there's a good surface there, it's a good ground plus there will be spin offs and benefits for this club going there. It should be a decent work out, I know the management team and it's an opportunity for players to get their first 45 minutes of 60 minutes under their belts. I don't want any of them playing any more than 60 minutes so we should have enough for sufficient changes.
On our two new professionals Ryan Woods and Elliot Turner...
They've done OK; Ryan Woods has settled into midfield and not looked out of place amongst the pros. Elliott has done OK as well, he's worked hard and with each day I can see him growing in confidence. It's never easy to step from the youth into the first team squad, he's taken a day or two to settle into it but every day that comes along, I can see him growing in confidence and him doing better.
On the player ins and outs since the end of last season...
It's amazing how it turns out isn't it? We offered 5 contracts out to players and none of them signed. But what we have done is obviously provide them with a platform for them to go on for bigger contracts or in their view bigger clubs. Whether they will live to regret it remains to be seen, but I am happy with the changes that have taken place here with the new players that have come in and I think we will do OK this season.
Watch Graham Turner's prematch thoughts on ShrewsPlayer