James Heneghan's Shrewsbury Town v Northampton Town preview

Date/time: Saturday, September 19, 3pm kick-off

Venue: New Meadow

Forecast: 19C, sunny spells

Outs and doubts: Salop: Aaron Pierre (suspended), Ro-Shaun Williams, Ollie Norburn, Sean Goss, Dave Edwards. Northampton: Harry Smith, Nicky Adams, Shaun McWilliams, Joe Nuttall, Scott Pollock

Betting: Shrewsbury 23/10, draw 12/5, Northampton 12/5

Possible line-ups: Shrewsbury (4-3-3): Sarkic; Love, Williams, Ebanks-Landell, Golbourne; Walker, High, Vela; Cummings, Pyke, Whalley. Northampton (3-4-1-2): Arnold; Racic, Bolger, Horsfall; Harriman, Missilou, Watson, Mills; Korboa; Warburton, Ashley-Seal.

Man in the middle: Neil Hair

Last time out: Portsmouth 0 Shrewsbury 0; Bristol City 4 Northampton 0

Most recent meeting: Tuesday, March 20, 2018 - Northampton 1 (Facey) Shrewsbury 1 (Nolan)

Record v Shrewsbury: P53 W20 D11 L22

James Heneghan's preview: All eyes will be on the stands as much as the pitch at Shrewsbury Town this weekend when Cobblers play their first away league game of the season.

This fixture is one of seven that will see 1,000 supporters back in football grounds as part of the EFL's 'return of fans' pilot programme. It's the first time fans will attend a league game since March and if successful, we could be seeing more partially full stands in the near future.

The game itself will see two sides going for their first league win of the campaign. Cobblers opened their season by being held at home to AFC Wimbledon while Shrewsbury earned a respectable point at Portsmouth, a game that, by many accounts, they could easily have won.

Salop boss Sam Ricketts has altered his style this season. With fans frustrated over their cautious football last year - only one team (Bolton) scored fewer goals in League One - Ricketts has vowed to take a more attacking approach this term, something that was reflected by Shrewsbury's 4-3 defeat to Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup two weeks ago.

But, like his opposite number, he is hampered a little by absentees this weekend. Former Town man Aaron Pierre is suspended after becoming Charles Breakspear's latest red card victim last weekend while there are doubts over fellow defender Ro-Shaun Williams. Skipper Ollie Norburn is also unlikely to start and Sean Goss and Dave Edwards remain sidelined.

One player that the visitors must keep an eye on is Jason Cummings, a deadly finisher who plays on the right of Shrewsbury's front three. Brad Walker, at the heart of the midfield three, has also started the season excellently.

For the Cobblers, the sight of Joseph Mills' name on the bench at Bristol City in midweek was a welcome boost, though Curle could still be missing up to six players.

Prediction: Shrewsbury Town 1 Northampton Town 1