Shrews blues?

United entertain Shrewsbury this Saturday looking for their first win of the new season. The U's will be without Dave Savage, who limped off in the 7th minute of the Gillingham defeat on Tuesday, but this should give Dean Whitehead a further chance to impress. Jamie Brooks may have recovered from his thigh strain and so Mark Wright will have to decide whether or not to recall him for Phil Gray, who gave United extra attacking options. Another poser for Wright is whether to continue with Sam Ricketts as left wingback or to alter the formation to accommodate Joey Beauchamp, who looked eager to impress in his short spell on the pitch against the Gills.

Shrewsbury will be without defender Iain Jenkins, injured against Hartlepool, but will have Nigel Jemson, who has scored twice already this season. Whilst United certainly won't have to worry about his pace it is likely that he will play a similar role to Phil Gray, holding up the ball while his colleague, Luke Rodgers, is the main threat.

However, as United's defenders get better with every game, it is difficult to see Shrewsbury's strikers getting too many chances, so a lot will depend on how well the United attack can breach the Shrews rearguard. Rage Online expects a much tighter game than we witnessed in midweek, with less space in the midfield and without the “up-for-it” factor that United's players displayed against their first division opposition. We think that the scoreline will once again be 2-1, but this time in United's favour (well, hopeless optimism has always been our weakness).

As is now obvious the rumour that Paul Moody was going to sign for United today has proven baseless. No new tales emerged today so we'll have to leave you dangling with this one. Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that Dean Windass could be moving from Middlesbrough to Bolton for £850,000.