EVESHAM United face a busy few days against Football League opposition as their preseason progamme gathers momentum.

The Robins host League One new boys Shrewsbury Town at the Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium tonight (7.45) before entertaining Cheltenham Town, last season’s beaten League Two play-off finalists, on Saturday (3pm). Coming hot on the heels of Tuesday’s abandoned 0-0 draw against Hereford United, manager Matt Clarke knows it is a testing time for his players.

He said: “It’s a bit of a crazy schedule with Shrewsbury and Cheltenham coming up but it’s a great experience for the players.

“We are operating with a squad of around 20 players and seven or eight of those are trialists so they are trying to earn themselves deals and it bodes well.”

Tuesday’s match was halted by referee Thomas Blanch 20 minutes into the second-half when Hereford trialists Chris Carruthers and Greg Tindle clashed heads and were taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Former Chippenham Town centre-half Tindle suffered a hairline fracture of his eye socket and needed 24 stitches, while former York City defender Carruthers required 10 stitches.

Clarke had been pleased with his team’s display but thought it was the right decision to call the friendly off.

“Nobody wanted to take any risks. There was a lot of blood and it shook a few of the players up,” he said.

“We more than matched them in the first-half. There were a lot of positives and I thought we looked strong defensively, good in the middle of the park and a threat going forward.

“I thought they started better than us in the second-half and then there was the incident.”

Captain Tesfa Robinson is a doubt for tonight with a calf problem, as is former Cheltenham centre-half Matt Williams (groin), who is on trial and hails from Droitwich Spa.

Keeper Nick Thomas, formerly of Hartlepool United and Welsh League side Newtown, and defender Enzo Masutto, who was playing in France last season, should both be involved.