Aiming to extend their lead over the bottom four in the League One table and all but guarantee their safety, Shrewsbury Town will welcome Carlisle United to New Meadow on Saturday.
The hosts currently sit seven points clear of the drop zone in England's third tier, while their visitors are rooted to the foot of the division following three straight defeats.
Match preview
With eight games of the League zone season left to play, Shrewsbury head into the weekend aiming to take another major step towards guaranteeing their safety, having moved clear of the bottom four in recent weeks after a tough campaign on the whole.
Paul Hurst returned to the Shrews hot seat in late January, as they sat on 30 points from 28 outings, and while he did make a winning start away at Northampton Town, they would go on to earn just two more points from the next four attempts.
That left the Shropshire side in a concerning position around the relegation zone, but they were then able to produce two crucial victories in a four-match span, gaining a slight cushion with 3-2 and 2-1 away wins over Reading and Port Vale respectively either side of defeats to Lincoln City and Blackpool.
Aiming to further extend their lead over the bottom four, Hurst's men most recently played host to Exeter City on Saturday, with the sides level on points before the game, but they were comfortably beaten 3-0 as Will Aimson, Luke Harris and Jack Aitchison all netted first half goals after Jordan Shipley was sent off inside the opening 10 minutes.
While still sitting seven points and four places above the drop zone, Shrewsbury Town have played more games than the majority of sides below them, and they will know they are not yet safe and will be keen to return to winning ways on Saturday to avoid being dragged back into the dogfight.
They meet a visiting side in a far more desperate position in the fight at the bottom end of League One this season, with their survival hopes becoming ever slimmer ahead of the run-in.
After winning promotion through the League Two playoffs last time around, Carlisle United have certainly experienced a tough campaign back in England's third tier, having remained rooted to the foot of the division for the majority of the season with just 23 points on the board from their 37 matches thus far.
That leaves Paul Simpson's side 16 points adrift of safety with 27 left to play for, having lost three consecutive matches after ending a previous eight-game losing run with a pleasing 1-0 victory away at Burton Albion at the end of February thanks to Paul Huntington's goal.
Indeed, the Cumbrians were unable to build an improved survival bid on the back of that result, going on to fall short at home to Reading and away at Charlton Athletic, before most recently hosting promotion-chasing Barnsley on Tuesday and putting up a creditable fight before eventually succumbing to a 3-2 defeat, having initially gone ahead through Luke Armstrong before Daniel Butterworth's late goal came in vain.
With their standing quickly worsening having been cut further adrift of safety and their fellow strugglers in the drop zone, any hopes of remaining competitive in the final nine games for Carlisle rest on producing a hugely improved run in the coming weeks, and they will bid to kickstart that with what would be just a third away league win of the season on Saturday.
Team News
Shrewsbury Town will head into the weekend without key man Jordan Shipley, who will serve a suspension after being sent off early in their defeat to Exeter City on Tuesday.
In his absence, Aiden O'Brien will likely come in on the left wing from the outset, joining Tom Bayliss and Tom Bloxham in a supporting trio behind a lone striker.
If deemed fit, Ryan Bowman will fight to displace Daniel Udoh and lead the line from the start on Saturday, while Jack Hinchy may come in and join Carl Winchester at the base of the midfield.
Carlisle United will remain without Callum Guy and Joshua Kayode on Saturday, as the pair are confined to the treatment room.
In their 5-3-2 shape, Jon Mellish, Paul Huntington and Sam Lavelle should again line up in the middle of the defence, with Jack Robinson and Joshua Emmanuel completing the back line in front of goalkeeper Harry Lewis.
Luke Armstrong should again lead the line, having scored in back-to-back League One matches following his January arrival from Harrogate Town, while Daniel Butterworth and Sean Maguire will both bid to join him from the outset after Jack Diamond was preferred against Barnsley.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Feeney, Dunkley, Flanagan, Benning; Winchester, Hinchy; Bloxham, Bayliss, O'Brien; Udoh
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Emmanuel, Lavelle, Huntington, Mellish, Robinson; McGeouch, Neal, McCalmont; Butterworth, Armstrong
We say: Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Carlisle United
Shrewsbury will certainly be wounded by their heavy midweek defeat, but with home advantage back on their side against a Carlisle team in the midst of a rut, we fancy them to bounce back on Saturday and come out on top.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
