Match Preview: Shrewsbury Town (A)
Emirates FA Cup 1st round
Greenhous Meadow
Saturday, November 5, 2016 – KO 3.00pm
Team News: Striker Michael Gash is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery while James Pearson (knee) is also a long-term absentee.
Sam Togwell (hernia), Gavin Hoyte (hamstring), Elliott Johnson and Jamal Campbell-Ryce have all been missing in recent weeks.
Last Time We Met: Barnet and Shrewsbury Town have not faced one another since February 2012 when the Shrews left Underhill with a 2-1 win in League Two.
Clovis Kamdjo put through his own net to give the visitors the lead. However, the Bees drew level when Izale McLeod struck three minutes into the second half.
But Lawrie Sanchez’s side could not hold on for a point and, 16 minutes from the end, James Collins won it for the Shrews.
Manager: Former Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst, 42, has been in the job for a couple of weeks and will be taking charge of his first home game since succeeding Micky Mellon.
As a player Hurst spent all but 17 games of his career with Rotherham United – his one spell away a loan move to Burton Albion towards the end of his playing days. The Sheffield-born full-back made just shy of 500 appearances for the Millers before retiring in 2008.
Hurst’s management career began alongside Rob Scott at Ilkeston Town in 2008 and the pair worked together latterly at Boston United and Grimsby Town.
In 2013 Scott left Town and Hurst took sole charge, eventually guiding the Mariners back into the Football League earlier this year with a Play-Off Final win over Forest Green Rovers at Wembley.
However, in October he left Blundell Park after more than 300 games in charge and joined the League One Shrews.
Dangerman: Newcastle United loanee Ivan Toney, 20, heads the club’s goalscoring charts with five league goals from his 12 EFL League One starts for the Salopians.
The Northampton-born forward began his career with the Cobblers before joining the Magpies in 2015 after catching the eye with a record of 11 goals from 27 league starts.
He has made just four sub outings for the Tynesiders to date, spending time on loan at Barnsley across two loan spells.
During the second of those loan arrangements he helped the Tykes win promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.
Connections: Bees striker Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro moved to The Hive from Shrewsbury Town this summer after spending two seasons at Greenhous Meadow.
In that time the 31-year-old Frenchman scored 15 goals in 42 league starts before joining Barnet at the end of his contract.
Further back, winger Darren Currie switched to Underhill from Shrewsbury Town in July 1998, signing on a free transfer.
The diminutive wideman went on to become a firm fans’ favourite at Barnet, scoring 18 times in 129 league outings in black and amber before leaving for Wycombe Wanderers for £200,000 in July 2001.
Another winger, Austin Berkley, joined Barnet from the Shrews just before Currie’s departure. But he never enjoyed the same success as he had at Gay Meadow with injuries stalling his progress.
Striker Omer Riza spent two successful loan spells with the Bees between 2000 and 2001, netting four times in seven league starts while on loan from West Ham United.
The Turkish forward then made 14 appearances for Shrewsbury between 2009 and 2010 without hitting the back of the net.
Last Time Out: Shrewsbury’s first game under Hurst’s stewardship ended in a 1-1 draw at Southend United in EFL League One on Saturday.
Experienced centre-back Adam El-Abd put Shrewsbury ahead in the 26th minute. Toney knocked the ball down for the Egyptian who leathered home first time from 25 yards.
But in the 39th minute Southend leveled, Stephen McLaughlin racing onto a through ball and drilling low into the far corner.
Shrewsbury Town (4-4-1-1): Leutwiler; Smith, El-Abd (c), Sadler, Brown; Deegan, Ogogo, Black, Sarcevic; Dodds; Toney
Ticket info: Supporters can order tickets for tomorrow’s match from our online box office until 3pm today (Friday), or by buying on the day from Greenhous Meadow.
Keep up with the game: Full match commentary from every game is available on Bees Player HD. You can also get live match updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the afternoon. We are also on Snapchat (‘Barnetofficial’) and Instagram.
