Mark Gelder
Tuesday night finally saw the end of the run of draws against Accrington Stanley. The game was played in front of just 1,408 including 214 yellows fans, which was probably the lowest Football League crowd to watch United since 1,381 saw a 1-0 defeat to Tranmere back in 1979 [the rest of the top 20 all being Conference games]. The Accrington game had all the action a fan of lower league football could want, goals in each half from Asa Hall, a clean sheet for the defence, a cat running around the pitch, and the dimmest floodlights outside of Shrewsbury.

The prolific Asa Hall has now scored five goals in seven games, and the bookmakers don't yet seemed to have picked up on this, with an anytime goal at 4/1, two goals at 16/1 (compared to 5/1 and 20/1 in the away game at Accrington)

This finally moved United off 7th place, and into 6th on goal difference above Cheltenham, and with seven games to play, the automatic promotion spots are an unlikely possibility, but a win on Saturday would start to put the pressure on the other teams. In another odd pattern, United's remaining home games are all against teams who have taken points off us away (Morecambe 0-0, Torquay 0-0, Gillingham 0-1, Southend 1-2), whereas the away games were won at home (Northampton 2-0, Plymouth 5-1, Port Vale 2-1).

Saturday's visitors are Morecambe, whom United beat in the home fixture 4-0 last season, with goals from Simon Heslop and a James Constable hat-trick. 144 away fans made the trip that day.

United News
Harry Worley was subbed at Accrington following a knock, and we are still waiting on Michael Duberry. If these two remain unfit, it is expected that Andy Whing will drop back alongside Damian Batt, Jake Wright and Liam Davis. Adam Chapman was back in the team on Tuesday, with Peter Leven and Asa Hall the midfield behind Cristian Montano, James Constable and Oli Johnson.

Chris Wilder is hopefuly of having Tony Capaldi, Simon Heslop, Tommy Craddock and Jon-Paul Pittman back by the end of the season, with just Alfie Potter now on the long term injury list. Dean Morgan, Scott Rendell, Mark Wilson, Antony Tonkin, and Wayne Brown are all hopefully fit and available, although it seems Paul McLaren may have played his last game for United.

Shrimps News
Manager Jim Bentley is already planning for next season, following the side's drop to midtable after a decent start to the season saw them top of the league after nine games, including a 6-0 thrashing of Crawley. Midfielder Andy Fleming has had an extension to his contract activated, and the club are also talking with defender Andy Parrish about a new contract.

Carlisle loanee striker Craig Curran, 22, played against Shrewsbury last Saturday in the Shrimp's 1-0 defeat, and also scored for the reserves at the Globe Arena on Wednesday against Manchester City reserves, which City won 6-1 (their side including Carlos Tevez and Owen Hargreaves).

Morecambe are also hoping to have Jack Redshaw (forward) and Gary McDonald (midfield) back available. Top scorer is Gary Ellison with 15 league goals, Danny Carlton has eight, and Laurence Wilson five.

Recent results include 1-0 defeats to Aldershot, Shrewsbury, and Hereford; a 1-1 draw against Accrington, and wins against Cheltenham (3-1), and Barnet (2-0).

Other News
Friday night matches are Southend(5th)-Cheltenham (7th), and Barnet-Torquay (2nd). A draw in the first game and a win for Barnet would probably be the best result to be hoped for.

Crawley and Bradford City have had various FA charges against them following their brawl at the final whistle on Tuesday, in a game which saw six yellows for Crawley, three red cards for Bradford, two for Crawley (Pablo Mills and Claude Davis), whilst Kyle McFadzean and Mills face further violent conduct charges. [@opponent]Morecambe[/@opponent][@connection]Morecambe[/@connection]