Sam Ricketts previews Town's Sky Bet League One fixture with Gillingham.
Shrewsbury Town return to Sky Bet League One action this week as Salop take on Gillingham away from home.
The Shrews take on Steve Evans’ Gills after a shock 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup.
Town Manager Sam Ricketts is looking forward to taking on the Kent-based side and feels his team are ready for the fixture.
“Gillingham are a good side and have evolved over the last year,” said Sam. “We had a one-all draw last time out and it was a good game. They are a side who are hard to beat and haven’t lost in the league since November.
“We know we are in for a good game. They’ve brought in a few new signings recently, mainly in the frontline with John Akinde and Jordan Roberts coming in. They have good pace and good power amongst other threats.
“We will be preparing for this game as we would for any other game. Every game the preparation stays the same. It’s huge to have the same preparation and mind-set going into a game.
“We will be working Gillingham out, recognising their threats and weaknesses and then we wil feed that back to the players. Long mid-week games aren’t ideal but you can’t do anything about that.
“We have plenty of games but that’s what football is about. The players will be ready and we will be rested prepared as much as possible. Last week was the first week we had full training”
Sam recognises The Gills have a number of threats all over the pitch but feels his team are capable of dealing with the home side’s offensive play.
“We will deal with that in our own way,” said Sam. “We look at how they score the goals and we will try to nullify it as best we can. At the same time, we need to hurt them with the way we play.
“We are going there to get the win. I would say it is harder dealing with a group of players who can score rather than an inform individual. If goals are coming from different areas, you have to be aware of that.
“We will assess the lads injury and fitness-wise – I think everyone is ok. We have a few niggles, we are waiting to see how Ollie Norburn is as he came off with a knock.”