McKenna: A Decent Start But We've Not Achieved Anything Yet Thursday, 18th Aug 2022 18:49 Town boss Kieran McKenna says his top-of-the-table Blues, who travel to face Shrewsbury at Montgomery Waters Meadow on Saturday, haven’t achieved anything yet other than to give themselves something to build on. McKenna’s side picked up their third league win in a row at Burton Albion on Tuesday, the first time Town had been victorious three games on the trot since February 2021. They visit Shropshire aiming to win four in a row for the first time since a run during September and October 2019. Despite his side having taken 10 points from 12 in their first four league games, McKenna is far from getting carried away. “To be fair, I don’t think we’ve achieved anything yet and we won’t for a long time,” he said. “I think we’ve had a decent start. I think we could be sitting here on 12 points, but we’ve had a decent start and we’ve given ourselves a chance of something to build on. It’s no more than that. “I’m pleased to have three consecutive wins, it was a hurdle that we wanted to climb on Tuesday night and we managed to do that. But once these challenges are done, it’s ticked off and moved on to the next one. “Now it’s Shrewsbury, a team who we didn’t manage to beat last season away from home. We had a really disappointing draw there and it will be all eyes on that and looking to put that right on Saturday.” Does he see the game against the Shrews as similar to the match against the Brewers, the Blues having battled their way to a 1-0 win against direct, determined and physical opposition. “No, I think there are nuances to it,” he reflected. “I think they are a different team to Burton. I think they are a very well organised team, defensively very, very good. “Their game against Derby on Tuesday night [which ended 0-0] was a case in point. They are very solid in their defensive shape, have got a really experienced backline and in the summer added to one which had a really good defensive record in the second half of last season, and their underlying numbers defensively are very good. “Normally I wouldn’t expect them to be quite so man-to-man as Burton were. So I think there are some nuances in there that make it quite different on the pitch, and it’s a completely different challenge that we have to respect and get ready for. “Again, they are coming off the back of two good results against two of the better teams in the division [they won 2-1 at Wycombe last Saturday prior to the draw with the Rams] and they’ll be looking to make that a third on Saturday. “I think they are a team that have a range of different attributes. They can play, they have some good footballers as well, but I think their defensive solidity when they are in their defensive shape is really good and it’s going to be a big challenge to break that down.” McKenna says the Shrews are a side capable of defending steadfastly in games where they don’t see much of the ball, as Town will hope to be the case on Saturday. “Very much so,” he said. “Going into when we played them at the back end of last season, their defence going into that and their clean sheet run had been outstanding and it’s also been backed up by really good underlying numbers like the number of chances they give away. “They are a tough nut to crack, very well organised, very disciplined in their defensive shape and they’ve added a couple of experienced defenders over the summer as well, so that has strengthened the backline, and they’ve strengthened the area in front of the backline as well. “They are a tough team to break down and it’s going to have to be a really good performance from us, really aggressive in our attacking play to go and create chances in this game.” McKenna has said his team selection will depend to some degree on how players came through Tuesday’s game against Burton, while the Blues boss will decide on whether Wes Burns (groin) and Dominic Ball (ankle) will be included on Friday before the coach leaves for Shropshire. Christian Walton will be in goal with the back three of Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson likely to continue. Burns will return at right wing-back if fit with Kayden Jackson dropping to the bench, while McKenna will probably recall Leif Davis for Greg Leigh on the left. Skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans will continue at the centre of midfield with Marcus Harness and Conor Chaplin likely to be the two number 10s behind Freddie Ladapo, who will be looking to score his first Town goal against one of his previous loan clubs. As has become familiar since being permitted to use five subs, McKenna will switch his attacking players in the second half. So far this season, Shrewsbury have won one, lost one and drawn two in League One - as well as beating Carlisle at home in the Carabao Cup - and sit in 16th in the table. Manager Steve Cotterill says he’s happy with the way his team have started their campaign with their form on the up after they had taken one point from their first two matches. “Yeah, of course,” he told the Shrews’ official website. “There have been some good performances hence the turnaround in results. We've just got to try and keep it going now. “We always knew we'd have a tough start. Accrington is a tough game [which ended in a 1-0 defeat] and Morecambe away on the first day of the season [a 0-0 draw] is tough too. “But this week emphasises that especially when you look at the league position of the teams and the stature of the football clubs.” Regarding Town, he added: “They're the early leaders but I'm sure that even though they're top of the table, they won't say they've had any easy games. “We know the challenge that lies ahead. There aren't too many changes to their side from last season. Some changes in the forward areas and maybe one or two in the wing-back positions but once you've played against these teams and the formations they can play, you pretty much know what you're up against and they'll say the same thing about us.” Shrewsbury made six signings over the summer, forward Aiden O’Brien, who joined after leaving Portsmouth, midfielders Tom Bayliss and Jordan Shipley from Preston and Coventry respectively, and central defender Chey Dunkley from Sheffield Wednesday joined on a permanent basis and defenders Julien Dacosta and Taylor Moore are on loan from Coventry and Bristol City respectively. O’Brien has been ruled out for six weeks with a hip problem, while Cotterill hopes striker Ryan Bowman, who was substituted at Portman Road last season with a heart problem, is OK to be involved on Saturday following a back issue. Historically, the Blues have had much the better of matches between the two sides, winning 16 games (12 in the league), losing three (one) and drawing 10 (eight). Town are unbeaten against the Shrews in 12 games stretching back to an old Second Division match at Gay Meadow in January 1987 when Bobby Ferguson’s side were defeated 2-1. At Montgomery Waters Meadow in April, Cameron Burgess was sent off for a second bookable offence with 15 minutes remaining as the Blues and shrews drew 1-1. Town had looked comfortable, James Norwood having given them a sixth-minute lead, until being reduced to 10 men after Burgess had lunged at home keeper Marko Marosi on 75 and sub Shaun Whalley lashed an equaliser from 25 yards to claim a share of the points for the Shrews. At Portman Road in October last year, Macauley Bonne was the hero as Town recorded back-to-back wins for the first time under Paul Cook by beating Shrewsbury 2-1. Chaplin gave the Blues the lead in the 23rd minute, but Whalley - who Town will be pleased left Shrewsbury in the summer - levelled on 28, however, 10 minutes in the second half Bonne flicked home his ninth goal of the season from a Lee Evans corner to seal a deserved three points. Former Blues loan centre-half Matthew Pennington joined Shrewsbury on loan from Everton in January last year, a switch which was made permanent the following summer. Pennington, 27, made 31 starts and scored one goal while with the Blues during the 2018/19 campaign. Town striker Ladapo spent the second half of 2016/17 on loan with the Shrews from Crystal Palace, scoring four times in 10 starts and five sub appearances.
Saturday’s referee is Will Finnie from Luton, who has shown 10 yellow cards and one red in three games so far this season. Finnie’s most recent Town match was the 2-2 home draw with Wigan in April in which he booked Woolfenden, Morsy, Burns, Tyreeq Bakinson and two Latics. Prior to that, he was coincidentally in charge of the 2-1 home victory over the Shrews in October last year in which he yellow-carded Burgess, Edmundson, Scott Fraser and one of the visitors. Finnie’s only other Town match was the the 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over Bristol Rovers at Portman Road on the opening day of 2021/22 season in which he booked Woolfenden, Andre Dozzell and one Pirate. Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burgess, Burns, Vincent-Young, Leigh, Davis, Penney, Morsy (c), Evans, Ball, Humphreys, Harper, Aluko, Harness, Edwards, Chaplin, John-Jules, Ladapo, Jackson.
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