Preview: Bromley vs Shrewsbury Town

That move was a reward for his good work at Brackley, where he won the National League North title in 24/25 and looked likely to cement their National League status this season.

His impact at the Shrews was immediate as his new side won six out of his first nine matches and moved away from the relegation zone, all but locking in League Two football for next season.

Upon arrival, one of Cowan's key tasks was to figure out the best starting XI, particularly as previous manager Michael Appleton had been allowed to make multiple new signings in the January transfer window before he was sacked.

The impressive uptick in results meant Cowan rightly won the League Two manager of the month award for February, but since then, the new-manager bounce has tailed off, taking Shrewsbury’s form with it.

A run of four defeats in a row in March brought the Shropshire side firmly back down to earth, but their bad run ended on Good Friday with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Tranmere Rovers.

Worryingly for Cowan, his side arrives at Hayes Lane having only scored one goal in their last five games. In fact, until the Tranmere win, they had only fashioned six shots on target in those four defeats, making it clear why Shrewsbury are the league’s second-lowest goal scorers this season.

If recent lineups are anything to go by, you can expect the Shrews to utilise a back five. Will it be enough to blunt Bromley’s attacking impetus and stand up to the dead-ball challenge? 

George Evans’ last-gasp heroics on Good Friday earned Bromley a point away at Barnet, which means the Ravens have now broken the 80-point barrier.

Psychologically, this is a big moment, both for Andy Woodman’s dressing room and the chasing pack.

Can other teams still win League Two? Yes. But has the pressure of Bromley’s relentless tempo dented the confidence of the likes of MK Dons and Cambridge? Almost certainly.

If anything, the race for automatic promotion has seen the latter two teams dragged into a complex race that may see one or both miss out altogether if they do not get their act together.

None of the chasing pack have shown the required consistency to put serious pressure on Bromley. In a sense, the only pressure the Ravens face tonight is the pressure they place on themselves in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

The prize on the line is obvious. Earning a W this evening will put one firm hand on promotion, with perhaps only one or two points more needed to finish the job. Heck, 83 may end up being enough for an automatic slot, but Andy Woodman will no doubt have set his bar far higher.

As I mentioned on a recent episode of Andrew Miller’s Bromley FC Breakdown podcast, Bromley don’t batter teams very often. Now would be a great time to break that cycle. Gillingham away was the one real stamp-of-authority performance this season.

Ultimately, a win is a win is a win, and no Bromley fan would complain if they grind out a single-goal victory tonight. But oh how we would love for proceedings to be done and dusted inside 60 minutes.

Given how Shrewsbury will likely set up, Woodman might be tempted to start with two up front to offer Bromley more flexibility.

However, with a day’s extra rest for this game, I think it is more than likely that he will opt for the same XI we saw at Barnet. Then again, with Bromley also having one less day to prepare for the trip to MK Dons on Saturday, will he also have one eye on that game?

Smith

Ifill Sowunmi Cameron Odutayo

Charles Arthurs

Whitely Ajayi Pinnock

Kabamba