Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Simpson is taking a calm approach as he and several of his charges get their first taste of county rivalry when AFC Telford United head to the Prostar Stadium on Saturday in the final of the Shropshire Senior Cup.
The showdown, held over from last season after being postponed due to the wet weather, always provides keenly contested tussles for the two camps.
And Simpson, whose League Two side opened their pre-season campaign at Northwich last night (Wednesday), admits he could have done with the game being played later in the summer.
“It’s probably come a bit early in pre-season, we could have done with this sort of game in a few weeks, but that’s the way it’s fallen.
“It’s a game we’d like to win, but I won’t be getting too screwed up about it.
“We’ll just be treating it the same as any other pre-season game, and look at it as an extension of our pre-season training.”
Simpson will go into the game against the Blue Square North outfit without defender Mike Jackson, who could miss up to three months with a recurrence of his knee injury.
Also likely to miss out is last season’s 28-goal striker Grant Holt who reported some soreness in training following his summer ankle operation.
“It’s a big blow to lose Mike after all the work he has done this summer,” said Simpson.
“The specialist said he could be out for anything between four and 12 weeks, we’re hoping that it will be somewhere in the middle of that.
“We’ve also a slight concern over Grant Holt who has got a bit of soreness.”
The future of winger Chris Humphrey was also clouded after reports suggested he was close to signing a three-year deal with Scottish Premier League outfit Motherwell.
Defender Jackson, 35, has been told to rest up to allow his knee to settle.
His absence is a setback to the pre-season plans, leaving Town a little short defensively with only Graham Coughlan and Kelvin Langmead recognised centre backs.
However, Simpson is confident he has a number of players who can cover, including newcomer Dean Holden and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff.
In last night’s friendly against Northwich, Simpson planned to field as many of his first team squad as possible, as well as a couple of younger players.
Meanwhile, Town’s players will try their hand at cricket when they take on Condover in a Twenty20 match on Sunday, July 26 (4pm).
The game will follow the club’s annual open day at the Prostar Stadium.