Both striving for their first wins in this season's competition, Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City will clash in Southern Group A of the EFL Trophy at the Croud Meadow on Tuesday night.
The Shrews managed to secure a share of the League One points at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, whilst Blues endured a difficult afternoon in the capital against Charlton Athletic.
Match preview
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After avoiding the League One trapdoor by two places and four points last season, Shrewsbury Town look set for another relegation dogfight during the 2024-25 campaign, with Tuesday's hosts winning just one of their opening 10 matches in the third tier, leaving them in 22nd position.
Losing all four of their league outings prior to Saturday's trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium, the Shrews did exceptionally well to earn a point off last term's losing playoff finalists Bolton, with first-half goals from Josh Feeney and Jordan Shipley enough for a draw.
Focusing on EFL Trophies matters, Shrewsbury have it all to do if they wish to avoid a group-stage exit this time around, with the Shropshire-based club losing 2-1 to Fulham Under-21s during their opening game of the competition on August 20, despite Aristote Nsiala opening the scoring.
Taking charge of the Shrews at the beginning of the calendar year, Paul Hurst has laboured to six victories from 31 competitive matches at the helm, with the 50-year-old looking to emulate the relative success he managed at Grimsby Town between 2020 and 2023.
Tuesday night's clash is the second match between Shrewsbury and Birmingham already in the 2024-25 schedule, with the two sides meeting for a pre-season clash over the summer, when goals from Jordan James and Lukas Jutkiewicz secured a friendly win for the visitors to the Croud Meadow.
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Murmurs of the possibility of an unbeaten campaign for League One title favourites Birmingham were silenced on Saturday afternoon at The Valley, where Nathan Jones's Charlton managed to snatch the scalp of the table-topping side, limiting them to just three shots in total.
Blues have been known for a slow start in matches this season, but that sluggish tone to the performance carried on for the entirety of the 90 minutes in the capital, with a second-half strike from former Coventry City marksman Matty Godden securing maximum points for the Addicks.
Despite their maiden loss of the third-tier term, Birmingham are still sitting proudly at the top of the League One table, two points ahead of second-placed Wrexham and Mansfield Town in third position, with Chris Davies's side having played a game fewer than the Red Dragons.
A League One-EFL Trophy double was touted for Blues at the beginning of the campaign, although the Second City club have left themselves with work to do in order to advance into the knockout stages following a draw and penalty-shootout loss to Walsall in the first match of the group.
Due to international call-ups for several members of the squad, Tuesday night's trip to Shrewsbury will be Birmingham's last fixture until a return to League One action on October 19, when Davies will take his troops to fourth-placed Lincoln City, three days before the hosting of Bolton Wanderers.
Team News
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Making positive impacts off the bench at Bolton, the likes of Leo Castledine and Malvind Benning will be pushing for starts on Tuesday night for Shrewsbury.
On loan from League Two Port Vale, Funso Ojo has provided plenty of experience in the Shrews' engine room this season and should retain his spot.
Birmingham are unable to call upon the talents of record-signing Jay Stansfield, with the striker going away on international duty for England Under-21s.
Alfons Sampsted and Willum Willumsson are taking part in Iceland's Nations League fixtures, whilst Lyndon Dykes will be in camp with his Scottish compatriots.
Failing to make the matchday squad for recent League One matches, Japanese winger Ayumu Yokoyama is expected to be given a chance from the start in Shropshire.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Savin; M Feeney, Pierre, J Feeney; Gilliead, Rossiter, Ojo, Nurse, Shipley; Marquis, Lloyd
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Khela, Sanderson, Davies; Cochrane; Leonard, Iwata, Wright, May, Yokoyama; Jutkiewicz
We say: Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Birmingham City
Struggling in the third tier so far, Shrewsbury are going to be up against it as the league leaders come to town in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
Birmingham will rotate their XI heavily but have enough quality in reserve to secure a comfortable victory over the Shrews at the Croud Meadow.
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Carter White
