Ian Evatt has challenged those who come into the side at Shrewsbury to seize the opportunity and prove why they should be starting in the league.

The Wanderers boss plans to use the fixture to get more minutes into the legs of some players who are still building up sharpness.

However, Evatt insists the Whites still have a “job to do” when they head to Croud Meadow and is keen to bounce back quickly from Saturday’s result in the capital.

“Every game is an opportunity for the lads to impress and try to get themselves in the team regularly, it is part of football,” he said.

“We are in this business and employed this football club, so we have a job to do. The job is to be competitive in every game and try to win every game.

“It is helpful to me, with the way pre-season has gone, to have these extra games. The most important thing is getting everyone back to full physical fitness for the league campaign.

Kyle Dempsey came off the bench at CharltonKyle Dempsey has made a couple of appearances off the bench since his return from injury (Image: CameraSport - Stephanie Meek)

“Having these games - especially on Tuesday, but also the Mansfield and Barrow games – will give us the opportunity to get these lads valuable minutes to get them ready to play consistently in the league.”

Evatt knows it will be another tough test on the road and expects Shrewsbury to go all out for a place in the third round.

“I don’t envisage them making many changes,” he added. “Obviously, it is a different club than ours so their squad is probably smaller, but their starting 11 is always competitive.

“It is always a difficult place to go – tight surroundings, tight pitch, they will be desperate to get through to the next round.

“It will be a tough game but we are just focused on ourselves and stepping forwards.”

Wanderers also have a league game against Exeter this weekend before kicking off the Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stage against Barrow.

When asked if the mindset is different in the early stages of the season, the manager replied: “I think we can use more rotation in this period.

“We are not the finished article right now. We have had injuries from last year and players who haven’t had a great deal of pre-season time.

“We have got signings who have just come in who, at their parent clubs, it looked like they were going out the exit door so haven’t been involved in pre-season games etc.

“We are still getting everybody up to full speed and these midweek games - in particular, the Cup games - will enable us to rotate and give these players much needed time.

“Hopefully, post the transfer window and international break, the players will be on a more level playing field and pretty much up to full speed.”