Eighth-placed Blackpool will have the chance to move level on points with the top six when they welcome Shrewsbury Town to Bloomfield Road for Saturday's League One contest.

The visitors, who currently reside in 16th place, will be looking to record a third consecutive victory in all competitions.

Match preview

Blackpool have experienced a mixed run of results in recent times, having won two, drawn one and lost two of their previous five matches in all competitions.

After losing to Peterborough United and drawing with local rivals Fleetwood Town, the Tangerines returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over non-league Bromley in the first round of the FA Cup.

Unfortunately for Neil Critchley's side, they were unable to back up that result last weekend, as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in their away meeting with Bolton Wanderers.

While they are now winless in three league outings, they experienced more cup success in midweek, with a Jake Beesley brace proving enough to claim a 2-1 home victory over Morecambe in the EFL Trophy, ensuring that the Tangerines finished the group stage with a 100% record.

Impressively, Blackpool have won four of their last five competitive home games, scoring at least two goals in each of those matches, highlighting the firepower that Critchley has at his disposal.

Shrewsbury will travel to Bloomfield Road in a confident mood after winning three of their last four competitive fixtures, with each of those victories coming via a 3-2 scoreline.

Matt Taylor's side began November with a first-round victory over Colchester United in the FA Cup, before they were beaten at home by Bolton Wanderers.

However, they showed immense character to respond with a comeback victory against Reading last Saturday, as stoppage-time goals from Chey Dunkley and Jason Sraha secured all three points after Tom Bayliss had halved the deficit in the 33rd minute.

They secured another victory in midweek, edging out Taylor's former side Walsall in their final EFL Trophy group game, despite knowing that they could advance prior to the contest.

Shrewsbury, who will now be targeting a third straight win, will certainly be confident about their chances of getting something out of Saturday's encounter, having avoided defeat in each of their last 13 competitive meetings with Blackpool.

Team News

Blackpool forward Shayne Lavery is set to be out of action for the next few weeks after picking up a hamstring injury.

Lavery is joined in the treatment room by Jordan Gabriel and Matty Virtue, who are currently sidelined with knee and hamstring problems respectively.

Midfielder Ollie Norburn is expected to start a second straight league game after he returned from injury to play the duration of last Saturday's defeat to Bolton.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury are unable to call upon the services of Kieran Phillips, George Nurse, Ryan Finnigan and Brandon Fleming.

Morgan Feeney, who has been sidelined for over a month, is now back training on the grass, but he is not yet ready to return to competitive action.

After grabbing a goal apiece in Tuesday's EFL Trophy win, Udoh and Bowman could be given the chance to start at Bloomfield Road.

Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Pennington, Ekpiteta, Husband; Hamilton, Morgan, Norburn, Carey, Dale; Dembele, Rhodes

Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Flanagan, Dunkley, Sraha; Bennett, Winchester, Perry, Shipley; Bayliss; Bowman, Udoh

We say: Blackpool 2-2 Shrewsbury Town

With only two League One games taking place this weekend, Blackpool have the chance to close the three-point gap to playoffs, but we think that they may have to settle for a point due to Shrewsbury's impressive record in head-to-head meetings with the Tangerines.

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