Marcus Braddock previews Sunday's p;lay
It's preview time again and although I only previewed these teams on Wednesday, there is still plenty to talk about. The first leg saw us grab a lead with a good performance and an incredible goal. We looked particularly good in the second half and I'm hoping we can replicate it at home. I also thought Charlton looked good, especially in the early stages of the game. Tarique Fosu looked lively when he came on and presumably he'll be starting on Sunday. So there is plenty of football to be played and given that Charlton beat us 2-0 at Montgomery Waters Meadow our away win can only really be considered an encouraging first half.
I need to mention the goal, the very best goal I've ever seen scored by a Shrewsbury Town player. I honestly couldn't believe it had gone in, I thought it must have nicked the net on the way past but everyone was celebrating. Everything about it was right, Shaun Whalley's chipped ball, Stefan Payne's deftly cushioned nod down and Jon Nolan astounded me once again! I thought Charlton had defended quite well but you cant really defend against something like that.
Top Scorers
Josh Magennis 10
Tarique Fosu-Henry 9
Ricky Holmes 6
Assists
Ricky Holmes 7
Jake Forster-Caskey 7
Ben Reeves 3
Mark Marshall 3
Stats
Statistically the first leg was quite even with the home team edging the possession although an interesting stat was shots on goal compared to shots on target. Although Charlton had 12 shots, only a 25% were on target whilst Towns 9 shots resulted in 4 shots on goal which is 44%. Very fine margins but it hints at who the more efficient team was. Our 12 fouls were more than the 9 that Charlton made and that probably reflects the high pressing game we've been playing this season.
For anyone thinking we should play for a 0-0 we've recorded eleven clean sheets from 23 games at home this season and Charlton have recorded seven in 23 away games.
Referee
Jeremy Simpson from Lancashire: Games this season: 41. Yellow cards: 164. Red cards: 10.
Assistants: Shaun Hudson and Michael George.
Fourth Official: Andrew Madley.
Squad News
Neither manager has any new injury worries.
Summary
Charlton have to score at least once and ensure that we don't if they are to progress meaning the onus is on them to make life difficult for us. Paul Hurst has told his team not to sit back so an exciting game is to be expected and you wont want to miss it. If you have a ticket for Sunday, make sure you are in good voice because the team will need all the support they can get in such an important game. As the song goes, “sing your hearts out for the lads!” they deserve it!
COYB!!!