The Shrimps are back on the road on Saturday 19 February when they travel to Montgomery Waters Meadow to take on Shrewsbury Town in Sky Bet League One.
Stephen Robinson’s men come into the game after earning a point against Gillingham last weekend on home soil. The Gills opened the scoring through Ryan Jackson, but his impressive strike was cancelled out by Jonathan Obika in the 84th minute.
Since 2002, Morecambe have met the Shrews 15 times with meetings in League One, League Two, the FA Cup and the LDV Vans Trophy. The Shrimps have won five of those meetings, including this season’s reverse fixture at the Mazuma Stadium when an Adam Phillips penalty and a close-range Cole Stockton strike ensured a 2-0 victory. Three meetings between the two teams have ended with the spoils shared and Shrewsbury Town have won seven.
The Opposition
The Shrews are without a win in their last seven league games, but despite their winless run, they’ve been beaten in just two of those games. They sit 18th in League One, four points clear of the drop zone.
As a player, Steve Cotterill been his senior career with his hometown club Cheltenham Town before going on to represent Burton Albion, Wimbledon, Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth. The striker hung up his boots following a nine-year career to take up management, beginning at Sligo Rovers in 1995. Cotterill returned to Cheltenham Town as manager where he won the FA Trophy, Conference and the Third Division Play-Offs in 2002. The 57-year-old also won League Two with Notts County as well as League One and the Football League Trophy with Bristol City. Cotterill was appointed Shrews boss in November 2020 following his dismissal from Birmingham City.
Key players
Shrews’ top scorer Dan Udoh has found the back of the net 11 times so far this season and has contributed with six assists. The 25-year-old spent time in non-league before he attracted the interest of Crewe Alexandra who he signed for in 2016. The Nigerian-born striker had spent tine on loan at a number of clubs including Solihull Moors and Chester before signing for National League North side Telford United where he scored 26 goals in one season. In May 2019, Udoh made the move to Shrewsbury Town.
The 2020/21 Fan’s and Player’s Player of the Season Josh Vela arrived at New Meadow in January 2020 from Hibernian. The 28-year-old, who can play in midfield and defence, progressed through Bolton Wanderers’ Academy and went on to make over 150 appearances for the Club. After a short loan stint at Notts County, Vela made the move to the Scottish Premeirship to join Hibernian where he made nine league appearances before returning to England.
30-year-old Ryan Bowman has nine goals for the Club so far this campaign and arrived at the club in the summer from Exeter City. The striker came through the youth setup at his hometown club Carlisle United and has represented a number of Clubs including York City, Torquay United and Motherwell.
Shrimps’ pre-match thoughts
Manager Stephen Robinson says that every point the Shrimps can pick up is ‘massive’.
“We need the fans more than ever, we need people to stick by the team, the boys and the players more than ever and so far they really have done they’ve come out in their numbers and they’ll continue to do that,” he said.
“Every point is massive and I said in previous interviews, we’ll beat teams that we aren’t expected to beat and we’ll lose against teams that we are, for some reason, expected to beat.
"It’s such an up and down league you can’t predict anything that’s going to happen and every point matters.
“If it comes to the end of the season and we stay up by one point or goal difference, then for me that’s success from where we started.”
Meet the officials
West Yorkshire-based referee Tom Nield will be the man in the middle on Saturday. He will be assisted by linesmen Abbas Khan and Simon Shaw with Christopher Ward as Fourth Official.
Nield has taken charge of 24 games this season and has handed out 102 yellow cards and three red cards.
He last took charge of Morecambe in August when the Shrimps were beaten 2-1 away at Gillingham.
Don’t miss a kick with our iFollow coverage
After teaming up with Beyond Radio for the 2021/22 season, supporters will be able to listen to exclusive, full and uninterrupted radio commentary of every single game, home and away, which will be broadcast simultaneously on 103.5FM, 107.5FM and DAB+ digital radio across North Lancashire and South Cumbria as well as on the iFollow Shrimps platform.
Joining host Dave Salmon is the Club's Media Assistant Matt Smith, audio passes are available from as little as £2.50 per match, £4.49 for a monthly pass or £45 for a season pass.
As well as full match commentary, the ‘Shrimps Verdict’ podcast will be available post-match, featuring online, on demand content, including audio match highlights, post-match interviews and reaction, and much more!