Marcus Braddock previews this evenings CheckaTrade game with Walsall
With the F.A Cup round one and draw out of the way we move on to our other cup competition, the CheckaTrade Trophy. Our opponents are fellow League One rivals Walsall, who have played five times since we met them in the league at the start of last month. They followed their home draw with us with similar results at home to Blackpool and away at Milton Keynes and then an excellent 3-0 win at Doncaster. Since then they've lost at home to Southend and were knocked out of the F.A. Cup away at Newport County. The League for this group of the competition shows that we've definitely qualified for the next round but with Coventry playing WBA U21, who've already conceded six times, Walsall will need to take all three points to ensure their progress. If they do that, we will drop to second position but still qualify for the next stage of the competition.
Top Scorers
Erhun Oztumer 7
Amadou Bakayoko 4
Dan Ageyi 4
Tyler Roberts 4
Assists
Joe Edwards 2
James Wilson 2
Luke Leahy 2
Clean Sheets
1
Goal Distribution
In away games, Walsall have found it difficult to score in the first half with just 1 goal in the first half of games this season. They've also conceded eight times in the same time period but their second half performances have been much better. Second halves this season have seen eight goals scored for Walsall and only five conceded. The first fifteen minutes of second halves have been the most prolific with five scored and just one conceded.
Squad News
Walsall-Tyler Roberts will be missing because of international call up for Wales under 21's.
Shrewsbury-Jon Nolan will miss out because of a hip injury. Junior Brown is side lined for the rest of the season.
Summary
This is likely to be a tough game as Walsall push for definite qualification for the next stage of the competition. They need to win, or draw and then win on penalties and have shown they can hold a team with eight draws to their name this season. They have a fair few goalscorers this season so goals can come from anywhere and we're going to have to hold our nerve if we're to keep our unbeaten home record.
COYB!!!
Marcus