Marcus Braddock previews this weekend's game against Bristol Rovers
This weekend sees Shrewsbury Town travel to Bristol Rovers Memorial Stadium for their second away game in a row. Rovers are on a good run of form having put a bad patch behind them. They started the season quite well with six wins in their first ten games but their form slipped a little after that and they found wins very difficult to come by at home or away. Their recent form shows a drastic improvement with just two defeats in the eight games since Christmas. Since the turn of the New Year, Rovers have played six times, won three and drawn three.
Top Scorers
Billy Bodin 9 (now with Preston)
Ellis Harrison 8
Rory Gaffney 7
Liam Sercombe 6
Chris Lines 6
Liam Sercombe
Lee Brown 4
Rory Gaffney 4
Clean Sheets
Two at home and three away.
Stats
At home, Rovers have conceded 19 (42%) which is more than any team above them apart from Bradford who are actually better away than at home. They've also not drawn at home all season but have drawn three times in away games.
69 % of their points have occurred at home and 62% of their goals have also been scored at the Memorial Stadium.
Rovers score 1.86 goals at home and Town concede 0.93 away.
Rovers concede 1.36 goals per home game and Town score 1.13 away.
Referee
Trevor Kettle from Rutland. Games this season: 27. Yellow cards: 97. Red cards: 5.
Assistants
Andrew Newbold and Andrew Williams.
Fourth Official
Simon Barrow.
Team News
Rovers: Deadline day signings Tony Craig and Kyle Bennett are both available. Defenders James Clarke and Daniel Leadbitter are injured.
Town: Junior Brown is still out of action, Dean Henderson is suspended and out three new players are all eligible to play so Paul Hurst has some extra options to look at.
Summary
After last week's excellent result and an exciting transfer deadline evening, it's all going remarkably swimmingly. The three new lads look good signings if their online videos are anything to go by and the squad has had a longer rest period than of late. Nearly everything seems to be going our way, it's all rather wonderful. Rovers will want to puncture the bubble of course and they will have added incentive after our 4-0 win at home to them. That was a odd game, another where everything we tried to do worked out and the opposition didn't seem to have done a lot wrong. We'll have to guard against that desire to get back at us and just play our game. Last week I said I'd be happy with a draw and they went one better against one of the stronger teams at their place. Again I'd be happy enough with a point, but I wouldn't be totally surprised at an away win.