Marcus Braddock looks ahead to this evenings trip to Walsal
Tonight, Shrewsbury Town take on Walsall in our eleventh game so far in League One. Walsall sit 12 places above us in seventh place with eighteen points from five wins, three draws and two defeats. At the weekend, The Saddlers were beaten 1-0 at home by Accrington, their second home defeat in a row after Doncaster won 4-1 at Banks's Stadium two weeks earlier.
Top Scorers
Walsall have three top scorers in League One, all of whom have three goals in League One. Andy Cook scored his three in seven starts and three substitute appearances. The 27-year-old striker arrived at Banks's in the summer after scoring 49 times in 64 starts and 14 substitute appearances for Tranmere. Cook also scored in the second round of the League cup against Macclesfield Town.
Morgan Ferrier also arrived in Walsall this summer from Boreham Wood where the forward had a record of scoring in every other game. The 23 year old has also scored once in the League Cup although his was in the first round in the 3-1 away win at Tranmere.
Midfielder Zeli Ismail also has three goals and one in the League Cup and like Ferrier, he scored in the 3-1 win at Tranmere. The 24 year old started his career with nearby Wolverhampton Wanderers but only played a handful of games for them. He has plenty of experience gained on loan from Wolves, playing for seven clubs whilst under contract there.
Clean Sheets
1 at home to Blackpool in there 0-0 draw on September 1st.
Assists
George Dobson 2.
Josh Gordon 2.
Stats
The Saddlers stats are quite interesting, as they seem to mirror each other in places. Walsall have scored an average of 1.4 points at home and have won 40% of their games at home, beating the league averages of 1.33 and 34% respectively. However, they've also lost 40% of their home games and have also conceded 1.4 goals per game, both of which are both over the League One average of 1.32 and 34%.
Referee
James Linington from Newport. Games this season: 7. Yellow Cards: 19. Red cards: 0.
Assistants: Mark Russell and Dean Treleaven
Fourth Official: Sam Allison.
Team News
Neither team have any new injury concerns.
Summary
Walsall is one of those games that carry a little extra meaning to supporters because it's a bit of a derby. Historically it's been a difficult place for us to get anything, the last time we won there in the league was in December 1993. So a win for us would be a bit of a surprise from that perspective and looking at our differing records so far, a draw would seem like a good result. However, the Saddlers don't have the greatest home form and we need to put the weekend’s disappointment behind us.