Source: FOOTYMAD
Sturrock to ponder 'difficult decisions' before picking Shrimpers side to face Shrews
Shrewsbury Town: After last Saturday's 4-0 win over Rotherham Southend United manager Paul Sturrock will wait until the final hour before Friday's fixture with second to announce his starting eleven as players previously suspended return to the squad. Luggy has some tough choices to make for Friday night as second take on third! Shrimpers defender Mark Phillips is getting ready for this evening's big League Two clash with second placed Shrewsbury Town at Roots Hall by chilling out by the radio. He tweeted:'Massive game tonight gonna start by getting myself fired up listening to @UncleDugs at 11.....niiiice' Fair enough, whatever helps get the points and rewards the home side with a first top place in the bottom tier for five years. However, for the Southend faithful it's Blues boss Paul Sturrock's decision on his best starting eleven for the game that will keep them talking over their cheap pints. Will he return midfielder Anthony Grant and winger Ryan Hall to the side, maybe just one of them, and if he does either, who will he drop after last weekend's fantastic 4-0 win over the team then holding second place, Rotherham united, away! Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: "I have been really studying Shrewsbury hard both on DVS and on the computer to look at the strengths and weaknesses of their side. From that I then have to see which of our players would cause them the most problems and that’s what I’m doing right now. We have Anthony Grant and Ryan Hall back in contention so there is plenty to think about. But these are the type of selection headaches all managers what like to have." It is indeed, let's hope Lugy makes the right choices, especially as team selection can only get harder as the players that remain on the injury list are getting closer to returning themselves. Sturrock said: "We are still missing a couple of players and it’s frustrating that Lee Sawyer is taking longer to recover than we expected from a thigh injury. He’s been out for a month now, which is disappointing, but hopefully we can get him back fit next week. The other absentee is Barry Corr but he’s also getting better again. He’s been for a second opinion on his knee problem which has kept him out since the end of last season and he seems to now be responded for treatment again. Baz believes he is making good progress and it would be a really big boost to have him back. We’re not really too sure of time scale with him but things are improving and we certainly won’t be rushing him because he’s already suffered one setback." And striker Crawford, who played for the Daggers in a reserve game earlier this week, will certainly not be a part of this evening's action. Sturrock explained: "Harry Crawford has also been spending time with Dagenham and Redbridge for them to have a look at him. He’s been training with them and will come back to us at the start of next week when we will discuss the situation further." Not long to go before all the questions will be answered! Would you pick the suspended duo? Have a vote: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
