Preview: Shrewsbury Town vs. Stevenage - prediction, team news, lineups

A victory could place the visitors into the top six should other results go in their favour, but the Shrews have the chance to provide an upset and secure consecutive wins in the league at the same time.

Match preview

Heading into this weekend Matt Taylor's men find themselves 15th in the table, and considering how tight things are around them the next few games could prove to be make or break for their campaign.

Sitting just seven points above the relegation zone, Shrewsbury can ill afford too many poor results until the cushion is increased. Yet on the flipside, they are just nine points away from eighth, meaning a string of positive performances could easily propel them up the division.

The Shrews ended a four-game losing streak during their previous League One match as they defeated bottom-placed Fleetwood Town 3-1 following goals from Nohan Kenneh, Chey Dunkley and Jordan Shipley.

However, any hope of putting together a winning run was brought to an immediate end in the FA Cup last weekend when they were defeated 1-0 by League Two promotion hopefuls Wrexham.

Consistency has proven to be a problem throughout the season for Shrewsbury as they have failed to secure consecutive victories since November's wins against Reading and Walsall.

The visitors are also in a tricky patch when it comes to securing regular wins as they have mustered just two in their previous six outings across all competitions, with a draw and three defeats also taking place in that period.

The latest of those losses took place this past weekend during one of the FA Cup third-round shocks as Stevenage were knocked out by National League South side Maidstone United, which is a result Steve Evans will want an immediate response to.

Considering the Boro could end up in a playoff position with three points on Saturday there is plenty at stake for the squad, especially since there is currently only goal difference splitting them and Barnsley.

While away games are often a kryptonite for teams, they have proven to be a strength for Stevenage this season as they have won more games on the road than at home during this campaign.

The Boro will also take confidence from the fact that they have already defeated Shrewsbury this season, with goals from Aaron Pressley and Jamie Reid being enough on that day to secure a 2-0 win.

Shrewsbury Town League One form:

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L

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L

L

W

Shrewsbury Town form (all competitions):

L

L

L

L

W

L

Stevenage League One form:

D

W

D

L

W

L

Stevenage form (all competitions):

W

D

L

W

L

L

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Team News

Tom Bloxham was recalled by Shrewsbury Town from his loan spell at Morecambe where he has scored two goals and picked up four assists, meaning he will be available for Taylor this weekend.

The Shrews had opted to start the exact same team that had been victorious against Fleetwood Town for the FA Cup last weekend, and while they were unable to repeat the result the fact it was a tight game could see Taylor opt to keep his faith in that starting XI.

Stevenage opted for a more defensive setup in the FA Cup by playing five at the back, but considering the result and the fact they were unable to score any goals Evans might focus on being more attack-minded this time.

Jake Forster-Caskey, Terence Vancooten and Kane Hemmings were all brought back into the starting lineup for the Boro during the loss to Maidstone, and they will be in contention to retain their places.

Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:

Marosi; Anderson, Dunkley, Pierre, Benning; Bennett, Winchester, Kenneh, Shipley; Bowman, Udoh

Stevenage possible starting lineup:

Ashby-Hammond; Pressley, Vancooten, Piergianni; James-Wildin, Neal, Thompson, Butler; MacDonald; Reid, Roberts

We say: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Stevenage

Neither team is enjoying a consistent run of results at the moment, which means that this fixture could be quite unpredictable in terms of the result.

However, Stevenage have proven to be the stronger of the two teams during the campaign overall, and that could give them the edge.

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