Southend United vs Shrewsbury Town. Sky Bet League One.
Roots HallAttendance7,076.
Friday 29 December 2017 13:19, UK
Southend boss Phil Brown must decide whether to change a winning side for the visit of promotion-chasers Shrewsbury.
Forward Simon Cox netted a brace as the Shrimpers ended a run of four straight defeats with a 3-1 win over Charlton on Boxing Day, where midfielder Ryan Leonard had returned from suspension and forward Nile Ranger also started. Michael Kightly is expected to be missing until early in the new year with a hamstring injury, while fellow midfielder Michael Timlin is recovering from an ankle ligament problem.
Goalkeeper Ted Smith continues his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury, but defender Rob Kiernan is sidelined after having an operation on his knee.
Shrewsbury boss Paul Hurst will monitor several unnamed players who are hoping to recover from knocks in time to feature. Hurst has no major new injury concerns following the goalless draw at Wigan on Boxing Day and is hoping to choose from an unchanged squad.
Midfielder Bryn Morris and striker Stefan Payne are among those pushing for recalls to the starting line-up, while Zak Jules (hamstring) and fellow defender Junior Brown (knee) remain unavailable. On-loan Wolves forward Niall Ennis has returned to his parent club to continue his rehabilitation from a knee injury.
Southend have won just one of their last six matches against Shrewsbury Town in the Football League (D2 L3).
In each of the last three matches between Southend and Shrewsbury at Roots Hall, neither side has scored more than a single goal (1-0 to Southend in September 2014, 1-0 to Shrewsbury in September 2015, 1-1 in October 2016).
Southend have lost just one of their last 13 league ties at Roots Hall (W7 D5). Five of those seven wins were by a one-goal margin.
Shaun Whalley has scored four goals in his last six games for Shrewsbury in all competitions, as many as he had in his previous 28.
