Peterborough United travel to The Croud Meadow to face Shrewsbury Town in their second League One fixture of the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams are yet to open their account in the third tier after suffering defeats on the opening weekend of the new season.
Match preview
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Shrewsbury Town are competing in League One for the 10th consecutive season and began their 2024-25 campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat away against Stevenage.
Paul Hurst's men were triumphant on Tuesday, though, as they beat fourth-tier side Notts County 4-3 on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw on home soil in the first round of the EFL Cup.
After going into the half-time interval two goals down, the Shrews completed a stunning comeback, with Joshua Kayode and Jordan Shipley (2) finding the net, before Notts County's Alassana Jatta scored in the 89th minute to force the contest to penalties. However, it was the hosts who prevailed, with goalkeeper Toby Savin making a crucial save to deny Curtis Edwards from 12 yards.
Shrewsbury have been rewarded with another home tie against Bolton Wanderers in the second round later this month, but they must first prioritise two tricky League One matches against Peterborough and Huddersfield Town as well as an EFL Trophy clash with Fulham Under-21s sandwiched in between.
Hurst's men head into Saturday's contest having lost each of their last four meetings with Peterborough, but there is reason for them to be optimistic as the Posh have not made an ideal start to the new campaign.
Indeed, Darren Ferguson's men have lost their opening two matches by 2-0 scorelines, suffering defeat to Huddersfield in their first league fixture before being beaten by newly-promoted Championship club Oxford United in the EFL Cup first round in midweek.
Although Ferguson was able to take "a lot of positives" from the match, he bemoaned the two "awful goals" that his side conceded and also questioned whether there is a "lack of belief" within his squad, who "are not there" in both boxes at this early stage in the season.
Peterborough, who finished fourth last season and suffered defeat in the playoffs, are targeting another promotion push this term and will hope to begin a positive run of form by beating Shrewsbury on Saturday before preparing for encounters against Exeter City and Wrexham later this month.
The Posh will fancy their chances of claiming their first win of the new season this weekend, as they beat Shrewsbury 2-1 both home and away last season, while they have won five of their last six League One meetings with the Shrews.
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Team News
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Shrewsbury have no fresh injury concerns and Hurst is expected to name his strongest lineup, with John Marquis and Tom Bloxham both pushing for recalls after beginning as substitutes in midweek.
Aaron Pierre could also return to the first XI at the expense of Morgan Feeney, joining Luca Hoole, Aristote Nsiala and Mal Benning in the back four, while Carl Winchester and Jordan Rossiter are set to continue in centre-midfield.
As for Peterborough, Hector Kyprianou, Rio Adebisi, George Nevett and Ryan De Havilland have all missed the club's opening fixtures of the new season due to injury and remain in the treatment room.
New signing Mahamadou Susoho, on loan from Manchester City, is awaiting the results of a scan to discover the severity of a hamstring injury, while Kwame Poku has also been struggling with fitness issues, but he could be ready to feature in some capacity this weekend.
Ricky-Jade Jones is set to lead the line for the third successive game and could be supported in attack by Chris Conn-Clarke, Joel Randall and either Poku or Abraham Odoh.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Savin; Hoole, Nsiala, Pierre, Benning; Winchester, Rossiter; Bloxham, O'Reilly, Shipley; Marquis
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Steer; Curtis, Fernandez, Wallin, Sparkes; O'Brien-Brady, Collins; Conn-Clarke, Randall, Odoh; Jones
We say: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Peterborough United
Shrewsbury enter Saturday's contest the happier of the two teams following their midweek cup victory, but taking into account Peterborough's strong record against the Shrews in recent years, we believe that the Posh will put aside their injury woes and come away from Shropshire with maximum points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
