Fleetwood Town welcome Shrewsbury Town to Highbury in Sky Bet League One on Saturday, and we have all you need to know in our match preview.
Fixture: Fleetwood Town vs Shrewsbury Town
Competition: Sky Bet League One
Date: Saturday 18 January 2020
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, FY7 6TX
Match officials: Christopher Sarginson (Referee), Ian Smedley & Kevin Mulraine (Assistants) and Wade Smith (Fourth Official)
This will be the second time Mr Sarginson has officiated a Cod Army game this season, having previously overseen Town’s 4-1 victory over Burton Albion in October.
He has refereed 22 games this season in all competitions, handing out 58 yellow cards and one red.
Fleetwood Town
Town will be looking to bounce back from the 1-0 defeat by Burton Albion last weekend, as Joey Barton’s side continue to hunt for their first victory of 2020.
The Cod Army sit 11th in Sky Bet League One, but are just three points outside the play-off places, with games in hand on the teams above.
Town have only lost once at Highbury in the league this season and are unbeaten at home in the league since October.
In the reverse fixture Fleetwood ran out 3-0 winners in an emphatic victory at New Meadow, thanks to goals from Paddy Madden, Josh Morris, and an own goal by Callum Lang.
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town currently sit 16th in the table, with eight wins, nine draws, and seven defeats so far this season. The Salop’s drew 1-1 with Lincoln City in their last Sky Bet League One fixture.
Sam Ricketts’ side have struggled to find a consistent goal scorer, which may be responsible for their mixed bag of results this season. Their top scorer in the league is Jason Cummings with three goals.
The club have amassed a core of former Manchester United youth academy products in the squad, with the summer signings of Sean Goss from QPR and Donald Love from Sunderland joining Ro-Shaun Williams at the club.
They head into the game in high spirits, on the back of Aaron Pierre’s 89th minute winner in their FA Cup third round replay against Bristol City on Tuesday, which sets up a tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool next Sunday in Shropshire.
One to watch: Sean Goss
One for Town fans to keep an eye on is Sean Goss. The German-born central midfielder, has appeared 22 times for the Salop’s so far this season in all competitions.
He has scored once and has two assists, since joining from QPR in the summer for an undisclosed fee.
The midfielder is known for his range of passing, which may be key in what could be a tight game between two evenly matched sides.
How to keep up with the game on iFollow
If you can’t make Saturday’s game, then we’ve got you covered as you can listen to full match commentary on iFollow.
Those in the United Kingdom can purchase an Audio Match Pass for just £2.50.
For supporters living overseas (outside U.K and Ireland), you can buy a Video Match Pass for just £10.
If you want to know more about iFollow, and find out ways to support the Cod Army, click HERE.
Any further questions on iFollow Fleetwood, please contact sam.fielding@fleetwoodtownfc.com.
What Joey Barton had to say:
“Every game for us is a cup final, and that starts on Saturday against Shrewsbury. We have got to make sure that we turn up and reach our level of performance that we’re capable of. If we do that, most likely in this division, we win games.
“They [Shrewsbury] will probably be happy to come happy with a draw, take a point and then like most teams that come to our place, if they can nick something on the backside of it and we have to scrap, then that is what we will have to do.
“I expect Shrewsbury to play 3-5-2, although they did play the extra midfielder against Bristol, they might do that against us.
“Sam [Ricketts] is quite consistent in his team shape and selection. We went down there and I thought in the second half we were very good and then deservedly won the game relatively straightforwardly.”
What Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts had to say:
“Fleetwood are a threat from a number of areas and it’s something we need to be wary of, we found that out at home when we got caught out a few times and we ran out of physicality.
“You have to respect Fleetwood's strengths; they have some good players with a good way of playing but we have to concentrate on ourselves and try and implement how we play.”
Matchday betting odds
You can get a price of 3/4 for Town to pick up all three points.
If you think Joey Barton’s side will win and BTTS you can get odds of 9/2
Here are some odds of players to score first:
Paddy Madden 3/1
Ched Evans 7/2
Josh Morris 9/2
Wes Burns 7/1
For more odds on Sky Bet, click here. Please remember to bet and gamble responsibly.