Shrewsbury Town boss Matt Taylor has highlighted the role Carlisle United’s fans can play in making Brunton Park a tough place.
The Salop head coach has warned his side that, although the Blues are currently winless in League One, Saturday’s game will be “very difficult” for his side.
Taylor said the way Blues fans roared Paul Simpson’s team to promotion last season is a factor that cannot be ignored.
“The crowd are really important to them – you saw that when they pushed them over the line at the end of last season,” said Taylor.
The Shrewsbury boss, whose side sit 11th after three wins and two draws, says that, in ex-Shrews manager Paul Simpson, United have a boss who deserves respect.
“It will be a tough game,” said Taylor via his club’s official channels.
“They haven’t picked up a huge amount of points this season, but I think in Paul what they’ve got is a really experienced manager who has not only coached at first-team level, but also in the England set-up.
“So I’m expecting it to be a very difficult game. I’m expecting a tough affair in terms of attitude, application.
“Our players will have to work for every single loose ball. They have to understand that going to Carlisle is an extremely difficult place to go and play football.”
Taylor will include former Carlisle players Morgan Feeney and Ryan Bowman as the Shrews seek back-to-back away wins.
He could also involve deadline-day loan signing Brandon Fleming, the Hull City defender who has joined on a season-long loan.
He provides wing-back cover after a three-month injury to Jordan Shipley.
“This will be a fixture that I’m sure they [Carlisle] will be looking at to try and get a positive result from,” added Taylor.
“We’re coming off a really good result against Fleetwood [a 1-0 victory last weekend]. The challenge to the players is to go and perform.
“We got the result last weekend – we probably didn’t get the level of performance we wanted.
“So my challenge has been to them this week that if we get a performance, we’ve got a chance of getting a result.
“It’s going to be an extremely tough game but one I’m looking forward to.”
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