The battle of the ‘STFCs’ as Swindon Town make their first ever trip to the Greenhous New Meadow to face Shrewsbury Town tomorrow afternoon.

Form… It goes without saying; Swindon’s first four League games wasn’t the start we had expected. After the opening 3-0 home victory over Crewe Alexandra, three narrow defeats against Cheltenham, Dagenham & Redbridge and then Oxford United brought many Town fans back down to earth and for a moment led to some to question ‘Project Di Canio’. Away from home Town have yet to take a point or score this season

Meanwhile Shrewsbury sit 14th with 5 points, looking to maintain their unbeaten form at home following their 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle followed up with a 2-0 victory over Crewe last weekend.

Both sides go into the match after impressive midweek Carling Cup performances. Swindon put behind three successive defeats with a magnificent 1-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. While Shrewsbury’s stunning 2nd Round comeback to beat Premier League Swansea City 3-1 on Tuesday night was a great result for League Two.

Swindon Team Speculation… Doubts include Alberto Comazzi, Oliver Risser and Alan McCormack who both missed the mid week cup victory. Phil Smith is likely to retain the keeper’s jersey after his clean sheet. Expect an unchanged defense and midfield, but it is upfront where Di Canio will need to decide whether to start with goalscorer De Vita in place of Connell. Magera is likely to start on the bench again as he builds up to match fitness.

Shrewsbury Team Speculation… Manager Graham Turner stuck with the same team on Tuesday night that beat Crewe 2-0 last weekend so expect much of the same as Salop have no new injury worries. Recent absentee striker Tom Bradshaw is continuing to work his way back to fitness.

Previous Meetings… In League and Cup Swindon have faced Shrewsbury 52 times, winning 24, drawing 14 and losing on 14 occasions. Importantly our recent record against the Shropshire outfit is impressive, Town have won 7 of their past 8 meetings between the sides. That defeat in November 1995, a 1-0 loss, was Swindon’s only home defeat for Steve McMahon’s Division Two Championship winning side.

At Shrewsbury, Town are unbeaten for 4 games since a 2-1 loss in Division Two in February 1988.

From the Archive… Saturday 25th February 1969 – Third Division: Shrewsbury Town 3 – 1 Swindon Town

Relegation threatened Town travelled to 9th place Shrewsbury for a first Saturday evening 7.45 ko at Gay Meadow. First half goals from Frank Clarke and John Manning gave Shrewsbury the lead. Despite an 81st minute Don Rogers penalty, Eric Brodie made it a comfortable victory for the Shrews in front of 5,057 at Gay Meadow.

The match was Town’s sixth successive defeat to slip to 22nd. Fortunately the match signalled the end of the poor run as Danny Williams guided Town to 12 wins from their remaining 18 games to eventually finish a credible 7th, just three points off promotion.

What the Stats Tell Us… Being so early in the season the statistics do not yet tell the full story so I’m not going to bother…

Prediction… This being my first away game of the season and dragging along my father and brother in-law to their first Town game so knowing my luck we’ll probably fail to impress and suffer another league defeat. Failing that and a bit of luck in my favour, I can see a 2-2 draw and pulsating game to entice the in-laws back for another dose of Di Canio.