Alex Neil expects Shrewsbury Town to be a 'tough nut to crack' as Sunderland come up against one of the tightest defences in League One tomorrow. The Black Cats take on the Shrews at the Stadium of Light on Good Friday, looking to register a third league win in a row for the first time since September.
Sunderland go into the game on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run which has lifted them into the play-off spots, but they still have work to do to secure a top six finish. Steve Cotterill's Shrews are sitting in lower midtable but they will be difficult to break down having conceded just 40 goals so far - with only automatic promotion contenders Rotherham (29) and Wigan (36) having conceded fewer times this season - and with former Black Cat Tom Flanagan at the heart of their defence.
However the fact that the Shrews are effectively safe from the drop means they can afford to be more expansive than Gillingham were in Sunderland's last home game, when the relegation strugglers put 11 men behind the ball and defended for their lives before Nathan Broadhead finally found a way through in injury-time. "If you look at Gillingham when they came here the other week, every point is crucial and they set up to be hard to beat; if you are Shrewsbury, you can come and give it a go," said Neil.
