City will make the lengthy trip to Shropshire on Boxing Day, hoping to add even more excitement to the festive period by bringing home three points back to Sincil Bank, writes Darragh Tracy.
Shrewsbury Form
Currently bottom of the pack in League One, Shrewsbury Town aren’t having the best of campaigns. The doom and gloom that surrounds the club at the minute presents a perfect opportunity for the Imps to rub salt in the Salop wounds on Boxing Day, strengthening our hopes of rounding out 2024 in the playoff positions.
Shrewsbury kickstarted their 24/25 campaign with a 1-0 defeat away at Stevenage, before once again losing in the league to Peterborough and Huddersfield. Wins have been rare for Salop this season, but their first came against a team that was also struggling at that time, Leyton Orient, after a 3-0 thumping at Crowd Meadow. After losing to three of the four promoted sides in the period following this, Shrewsbury would have to wait another 43 days before their next win came against Crawley.
However, the poor start to the season lead the Shrewsbury Town board to believe the manager couldn’t rectify the club’s on-field issues, so Paul Hurst’s time was up at Salop. His replacement, Gareth Ainsworth, certainly has boosted the feel around the club, especially after a famous win in his first game in charge.
When multi-million pound Birmingham turned up at the Meadow, Shrewsbury produced the most Gareth Ainsworth performance possible, maintaining 20% possession throughout the match, and time wasting to the extent twelve additional minutes had to be added on at the end. A superb 3-2 victory at the Crowd Meadow against league leaders Birmingham created a renewed sense of hope for the Shrews fans.
Unfortunately for Salop though, this feeling has faded. Town have not produced a league win since and have been beaten heavily by relegation rivals Cambridge, which has lead the Shrewsbury faithful to believe there is no way back from here.
Shrewsbury Tactics
City know what it feels like just as much as anyone to lose to a Gareth Ainsworth side, especially away from home. As far as the Imps are concerned, we can expect a very aerial affair on Boxing Day, with the hosts playing in a very direct manner. Shrewsbury adopt a 4-3-1-2 formation usually, aiming to have a compact midfield. However, the Imps should be able to get the job done if they are able to repel the long forward balls, as when the ball is on the floor, Ainsworth’s side have struggled to produce anything of note.
Attacker Joshua Kayode is definitely going to spend Boxing Day on the sidelines, having been nursing an injury for the past two months. He will be joined by centre half Carl Winchester, who is unlikely to make the squad following picking up a knock at Cambridge. Former Imp John Marquis has picked up four yellow cards this season, so a caution against his former club will see him sit out the game against Northampton.
Previous Meetings
The Shrews have lost their last three league games against Lincoln without scoring, having been beaten at Sincil Bank 3-0, and falling to a 1-0 defeat at the Crowd Meadow in August 2023. Previous to that, the two sides met on the final day of the 22/23 season, where a Matty Virtue goal saw the Imps triumph 1-0 once again.
Shrewsbury’s last league win against Lincoln came in a 2-0 victory over City at the end of 2022, with current Imp and former Shrew Tom Bayliss scoring one of the goals. However, this match is being played on Boxing Day, and Shrewsbury are bottom of the league, so let’s hope Lincoln don’t do the most Lincoln thing possible, and lose the match!
Merry Christmas Imps!
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