Southend United v Shrewsbury Town - Preview

Tes Bramble could be given a starting berth.

The last home match of last season saw United slip to a terribly disappointing 2-0 home defeat against a Shrewsbury side who were down to ten men for most of the match after young striker Luke Rodgers was sent off for flashing an elbow at Stuart Thurgood, and there is no doubt that Rob Newman's men will be looking to finally bury that ghost this afternoon.

Indeed, the Shrimpers recent record against the Shropshire side is overall very disappointing, Shrewsbury completing a doublre over the Blues without a goal conceded last season, and the last Southend player to net against the Shrews was Ben Abbey, with a neat header, back in December 2000 in what was a single goal victory for the Shrimpers.

United however have others thing to get off their mind, like a home defeat to Carlisle United four days ago which has left the Essex side reeling on just one point from their opening two League encounters. To help stop the rot Newman had hoped to bring in Aston Villa left-sider Jay Smith on a short term loan deal, providing all the technical stuff was completed on time Smith will go straight into the squad for this match.

Newman has also admitted that he may 'tinker' with his side a little, and two possible changes could see Mark Rawle and Steven Clark replaced by Tes Bramble and Thurgood respectively.

It's going to be tough for football today, with temperates up to 32 centigrade forecast, but Newman will be trying his utmost to get the very best out of his players this afternoon...

LAST MATCHES:
Southend United 0 Carlisle United 1 (McDonagh 85), Line-Up - Flahavan, Broad, Cort, Whelan, Searle, Clark (Bramble), Selley, Maher, Jenkins (Thurgood), Rawle, Jones.

York City 2 (Duffield 46, Parkin 72) Shrewsbury Town 1 (Moss 12), Line-up - Dunbavin, Thompson, Redmile, Heathcote, Vam Blerk (Drysdale), Moss (Murray), Tolley, Atkins, Woan, Lowe, Stevens (Jemson).

LAST FIVE:
April 13th, 2002 - Southend United 0 Shrewsbury Town 2
November 24th, 2001 - Shrewsbury Town 2 Southend United 0
January 27th, 2001 - Southend United 0 Shrewsbury Town 0
December 20th, 2000 - Shrewsbury Town 0 Southend United 1 (Abbey)
April 22nd, 2000 - Shrewsbury Town 2 Southend United 1 (Carruthers)

SOUTHEND (from):- Darryl Flahavan, Daniel Gay, Mark Beard, Damon Searle, Neil Jenkins, Leon Cort, Phil Whelan, Stephen Broad, Kevin Maher, Stuart Thurgood, Ian Selley, Jay Smith, Danny Maye, Mark Rawle, Barrington Belgrave, Tesfaye Bramble, Graeme Jones.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com