Goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin insists facing his former club will give him an extra incentive to want to impress when he lines up for Accrington Stanley against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
The 27-year-old admits he had a mixed day between the posts when Town played out a 3-3 draw at Stanley’s modest Lancashire ground last season.
And, having since been on the bench as an unused sub for the two return fixtures on Shrewsbury soil, Dunbavin admits he would love to impress when Gary Peters’ men roll into town this weekend.
“You want to play as well as you can in every game you play in, but when you’ve been at a club as long as I was at Shrewsbury then it’s always nice to impress,” said Dunbavin.
“It was a little bit of a mixed game for me when we played Shrewsbury at home last season. I made a couple of decent saves but I also gifted Leo Fortune-West the easiest goal he’s probably ever scored.”
Dunbavin started the season on the Stanley bench but has not looked back since being given a chance to stake his claim following an injury to Scotsman Kenny Arthur.
The Merseysider has been in good form and helped Accrington to a rare home win when they impressively came from behind to beat Chesterfield 2-1 last weekend.
It was some welcome good news for the ever dwindling band of Fraser Eagle Stadium regulars as Stanley have lost nine of their 13 home games in all competitions this season.
“We can’t put our finger on the home form but we played well last week against Chesterfield and got a good result,” said Southport-based Dunbavin.
Dunbavin joined Town from Liverpool in January 2000 – his old Anfield youth team pal Steven Gerrard remains one of his closest friends – and he was quick to stress how much he enjoyed his time at Gay Meadow.
“I was in my fifth season there and I enjoyed it,” he recalled. “I especially remember the first season when we stayed up by beating Exeter on the last day. I was only 19 and it’s probably one of the biggest games I’ve ever played in.
“Then it was a bit mixed with going down and then going up again, but I had some good times at Shrewsbury and I would like to think the fans thought I did well for the club.
“It’s all changed there now and there’s only Darren Moss I know. I still keep in touch with him and he’s one of my better mates, but it would be nice to give him some stick if we turn them over on Saturday.”
Dunbavin’s final appearance for Shrewsbury’s first team ironically came at Accrington in the Conference in August 2003. He suffered an injury in the first half and was replaced by Scott Howie who was then preferred by Jimmy Quinn for the rest of the season.
Dunbavin, who played in Town’s memorable FA Cup ties against Everton and Chelsea, added he had been keeping an eye on Shrewsbury’s results this season and believes they have what it takes to at least push for a League Two play-off spot.