After conceding a late equaliser in their recent 1-1 draw Rotherham United will be desperate for all three points when they tackle fellow promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury Town in this televised home encounter.
The Millers were denied a third consecutive victory late on against Torquay United at Don Valley in their last outing and as a result they slipped another place in the League, however despite the five point gap separating them from an automatic promotion place, they still have games in hand over the top three and know that a win would keep them very much in contention.
Dale Tonge (bruised foot) will again join Paul Warne (ankle) and Andy Liddell (achilles) on the treatment table while boss Ronnie Moore will also be without the services of Gary Roberts, he will start a suspension following his dismissal against the Gulls. The Millers have one player returning to action though; goalkeeper Jamie Annerson who has missed the last few weeks with a head injury is fit again and will be hoping to be on the bench.
Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson will have no new injury or suspension problems to contend with and although seeing his side's recent good run of form come to an end with a 1-0 defeat to Bury in their latest appearance he may opt to field the same starting 11 as they look to leapfrog their hosts in the League Two table.
Rotherham will go into the game looking to gain some momentum on home soil having been somewhat inconsistent in front of their, own crowd particularly since the turn of the year. With a record of seven wins and two defeats they have made themselves hard to beat at Don Valley this season, however with six draws from 15 matches only three teams have recorded more stalemates at home than the Millers this season. Despite the point against Torquay they now sit in fifth position in League Two having been overtaken by local neighbours Chesterfield and with their opponents also breathing down their neck they will be especially keen to clinch all of the spoils.
Prior to that defeat at the hands of second-placed Bury the Shrews had recorded three successive wins and have lost just twice in 2010. Having been in and around the play-off picture all season they currently find themselves in sixth spot just a single place and a single point behind their hosts and they will arrive in South Yorkshire quietly confident. Results suggest they are a little weaker away from the Pro-star Stadium having drawn four times and returned home empty handed on six occasions, however of their 16 games on the road they have been victorious in six proving that they can pose a threat.
It is Shrewsbury who holds a slight upper hand on their opponents throughout the years. They have beaten the Millers in 23 of their 52 meetings to date, with 12 games ending as draws just 17 wins have gone in the way of Rotherham. The highest scoring match on record between them came during the 1965/66 season when the Millers came out with a 5-2 away victory in the League Cup. The Shrews will be eyeing a league double having won 2-0 when the two met in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Words: Chris Ellison
