Oxford United’s winning run at home came to a halt after a goalless draw with Shrewsbury Town. But a major concern for Karl Robinson will be the ever-growing injury list after Anthony Forde and James Henry were both forced off for the U’s.
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Robinson made two changes from the side that edged past Walsall in the FA Cup, with Jordan Archer coming in for the injured Simon Eastwood, while Rob Hall replaced Alex Rodriguez Gorrin who was suspended.
Archer made his debut in goal, with a back four of Josh Ruffels John Mousinho, Rob Dickie and Chris Cadden.
Henry sat in front of the defence in the absence of Gorrin, behind Forde and Mark Sykes, with Tariqe Fosu and Hall as the wingers and Matty Taylor leading the line.
The U’s started brightly. Cadden won a corner in the opening minute which allowed Fosu to test Max O’Leary in the visitors’ goal.
But the Shrews came with a gameplan to press Robinson’s side high up the pitch, which limited chances when in the attack.
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury began to cause problems themselves with Donald Love able to spring balls into the box. Henry was on hand to clear an Aaron Pierre header off the line before Archer kept out Dave Edwards’s effort.
The U’s were unable to pass the ball like they normally would, and that was a credit to Shrewsbury’s gameplan, but also Henry’s struggle to influence the game from a deeper role.
Robinson would have considered changes at the break, but when Forde came off second best in a challenge with Love, a switch was enforced.
Elliott Moore replaced the Irishman, which moved Mousinho into the holding role and pushed Henry further forward.
But, after the restart, the Shrews tactics continued to frustrate the hosts. Despite the tactical switch, the 26-goal partnership of Taylor, Fosu and Henry struggled to breakdown a resilient defence.
