Southend v Shrewsbury – Pick: X – 30 September 2011

In-form Shrimps and Shrews clash on Friday night

League One/Two Tips

SOUTHEND UNITED  v SHREWSBURY TOWN (League Two)

Friday 30th September 2011 – Kickoff:  1945hrs

Southend United and Shrewsbury Town do battle at Roots Hall Stadium on Friday night with both teams having made a good start to this new League Two season and a win for either side will place them at the top of the league.

Only one point and one place separate these two sides with Shrewsbury lying in second and Southend just one point behind. Let’s take a look at Southend’s progress so far;

The Shrimpers have made a steady start at home with current stats of  3-1-1  6/3, and are on a three match winning streak having beaten Gillingham and Plymouth Argyle at home, along with a thumping 4-0 win at Rotherham United last time out.

At home, they’ve also beaten Hereford United 1-0, and lost to Burton Albion 0-1 which was a slight surprise, and is Burton’s only away win so far. In attack, they have various options at their disposal including leading scorer forward Liam Dickinson (3 goals), ex-Millwall striker Neil Harris (1 goal, 1 assist), while defenders Michael Timlin and Mark Phillips have both notched 2 goals apiece.

Interestingly, the club are urging their fans to bring along balloons, flags, banners etc to the game on Friday night to add a real party atmosphere to the night, while the bars dotted around the Roots Hall ground will be selling pints of lager and wine for just one pound – just hope it doesn’t get out of hand!

Shrewsbury Town make the trip south in buoyant mood also having won back-to-back matches against Port Vale 3-2 away and Torquay United 2-0 at home.  In fact, the Shrews have lost just once in their last seven matches, winning all the rest in this great early run.

Their away form has been a little up and down in recent weeks with two wins and two losses, and their away record reads  2-1-2  5/6 going into this match. However, Shrewsbury will more than likely be in the play-off frame at least if not in the promotion mix come the end of the season, all being well.

They too possess attacking options in strikers Marvin Morgan (4 goals), James Collins (3 goals), while forward Terry Gornell, Nicky Wroe and Mark Wright have all chipped in with 2 goals each. They also have creativity in the shape of Lionel Ainsworth (5 assists) and Mark Wright (3 assists).

I don’t think either team will want to lose this one and concede ground early on, and as both are in good form I’m tipping a draw in this fixture – going for a 1-1 scoreline.

Pick:  Draw @ 3.47 Pinnacle