Forest Green will be looking to return to winning ways as they host Shrewsbury Town in the EFL Trophy. In contrast, Carlisle United trounced the visitors 2-0 in their most recent game.
Preview (Forest Green vs. Shrewsbury Town)
Despite defeating Sutton United on Saturday, their start has hinted differently. Strangely, the Green have dropped all three of their home games in League Two so far this year. Their three away visits have produced all seven of their points. Therefore, it is obvious that David Horseman will be expecting a significantly better performance and outcome at The New Lawn in midweek. In the end, Harvey Bunker’s goal in the 63rd minute helped his team recover from their weekend trip to Sutton. Troy Deeney made his first start for the team after arriving as a player-coach earlier.
Last season, Forest Green won all three of their group games in this competition before falling to Cheltenham Town on penalties in the first knockout round. This season, their minimum goal will be to advance from the group. Meanwhile, Shrewsbury’s inconsistent play continued when they fell to Carlisle 2-0 over the weekend. After beating Cheltenham to start the season, Matthew Taylor’s team went on to lose, win, lose, win, and lose their next five games, dropping them to 14th position in the standings.
Since losing 2-1 to Rotherham United in the play-off final five years ago, the Shrews have developed into a reliable team in League One. This is their ninth consecutive season competing at that level. Taylor will expect considerably better from his team this time around after Shrewsbury earned zero points from their three group games in this competition last year.
Team News
Due to Callum Jones’ leg injury, Forest Green will continue to be without him. Horseman is likely planning on making multiple changes for this game in order to prepare for Saturday’s league match against Crewe Alexandra. Given his advanced age of 35, Deeney will almost probably be rested. Matthew Stevens, who took Deeney’s place in their 1-0 victory over Sutton on Saturday, is expected to start. Shrewsbury’s match against Bolton Wanderers has been postponed. They don’t have a league match coming up. Taylor might perform better than he had anticipated in this competition.
Although Kieran Phillips and Elliott Bennett are anticipated to start after coming off the bench during their team’s 2-0 loss to Carlisle last time out, the former Walsall manager will still want to give some periphery players a chance to impress him. Despite playing in a lower tier than their upcoming opponents, the hosts arguably have more depth in their attack. We can see how this might help them defeat Shrewsbury.
Forest Green 2 – 1 Shrewsbury Town
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