The Mariners hit the road tomorrow afternoon as Paul Hurst’s team make the trip west to Edgeley Park with Stockport County our opponents.

Our Sky Bet League Two fixture comes off the back of a 2-0 home defeat against Accrington Stanley last Saturday with Town unable to build on a point away to Tranmere Rovers and three against Barrow on the previous Tuesday. That result sees the Mariners sitting in 18th position in the table, four points above the drop-zone and eight away from the Play-Off spots.

This weekend’s match sees Hurst’s men head take on the League Two league leaders, a team who find themselves in fine fettle.

Team News

Hurst confirmed during his pre-match interviews with the media that, other than the suspension of Luke Waterfall following his red card against Accrington, his team haven’t picked up any further selection problems following last weekend’s match.

Donovan Wilson returned to action from the bench after his full debut away to Tranmere was ended in the first half and the manager suggested that the striker could be fit enough to start matches, along with Rekeil Pyke.

While still unavailable, Hurst added that Kieran Green’s return to first-team action stepped up with him returning to the training pitches this week. His return date is still unconfirmed with Hurst, along with his fellow coaches and the medical staff, set to monitor his recovery further.

Stockport County

Saturday’s hosts narrowly missed out on promotion from League Two last season. Finishing just four points short of the automatic promotion spots, County ended up reaching the Play-Off Final but lost out 5-4 on penalties to Carlisle United after a 1-1 draw at Wembley.

Promoted to the EFL alongside the Mariners at the end of the 2021-22 season after winning the National League, Stockport were fancied as one of the teams to earn an immediate promotion from the fourth tier and, after falling just short, they are one of the favourites once again this term.

It was perhaps a slow start to last season that dampened their automatic promotion aspirations with County finding themselves in mid-table at the turn of the year but that can’t be a charge levelled at them this season with Dave Challinor’s team currently sitting top of the table with just three defeats to their name.

This summer saw Stockport recruit once again, including the acquisition of former Manchester United player Nick Powell on a free transfer from Championship side Stoke City. Highly-rated 20-year-old forward Louie Barry also made the move to Edgeley Park, signing on loan from West Brom, and he has seven league goals to his name already this season.

Manager Challinor has been in charge of the club since November 2021 after departing his role with Hartlepool United. That season saw him lead County to automatic promotion from the National League before, the following campaign, narrowly missing out on promotion to the third tier. He currently boasts the best win percentage of any Stockport manager in history, winning 58.7% of his 92 matches in all competitions.

Form

Stockport come into this match on a seven-match winning run in League Two, scoring eighteen goals in that time. Their form saw manager Challinor and forward Barry pick up the League Two Manager and Player of the Month awards for September, respectively.

They have only tasted defeat three times across their thirteen matches so far, the only one at Edgeley Park coming on the opening day of the season when Gillingham left Greater Manchester with the three points following a 1-0 win.

Indeed, one of their last home defeats came at the hand of the Mariners in October last year when goals from Harry Clifton and Gavan Holohan put Town two up before Paddy Madden halved Stockport’s deficit late in the first half. Alex Hunt went on to seal the 3-1 win in the last minute with highlights of that afternoon available HERE.

The Mariners completed the league double over tomorrow’s opponents with a 1-0 victory at Blundell Park coming on New Year’s Day with Otis Khan scoring the only goal.

Town are yet to taste victory on the road this season with draws at Walsall, Bradford and Tranmere our sole points away from home. After arresting a three-match losing run with victory over Barrow, the Mariners then picked up a point at Prenton Park but fell to a 2-0 defeat to Accrington last time out at Blundell Park.

Coverage

Supporters overseas will be able to watch the match live on Mariners TV for just £10 with match passes available HERE.

UTM