Stockport County will welcome Barnsley to Edgeley Park on Saturday for an important game in the top half of the League One table.
The hosts have fallen off top spot and down to fifth following back-to-back defeats, while consecutive wins have put the visitors within touching distance of the playoff spots.
Match preview
Stockport County return to action on Saturday hoping to bounce back to winning ways and return to League One’s automatic promotion spots.
After missing out on promotion in the playoffs in their first season back in League One last time around, the Hatters set out to continue their climb with a top-two finish this term and sat at the summit after 14 games with 28 points on the board courtesy of eight victories and just two defeats.
Dave Challinor’s side have failed to continue that league form in November, though, and head into the weekend on the back of consecutive heavy defeats only separated by an EFL Trophy victory over Wigan Athletic, firstly falling to a 3-0 loss at home to Luton Town.
A trip to relegation-threatened Peterborough United then followed last Thursday, and the Lancashire outfit lost by the same scoreline, as Ben Woods put their hosts ahead early, Kyrell Lisbie added a second in the first half and Brandon Khela put the game out of sight.
Having quickly dropped to fifth spot following their back-to-back defeats, only leading seventh spot by two points but still trailing new leaders Stevenage by just two and second-placed Cardiff City by one, Stockport County will be desperate to get their automatic promotion bid back on track with a home win on Saturday.
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They meet a visiting side in a contrasting run, with their sights set on crashing the top six and continuing a winning streak.
Barnsley’s first season under the permanent management of Conor Hourihane has been a pleasing one thus far, earning 24 points from their first 14 outings, winning seven and losing four of those.
The Reds sat in mid-table after 12 games, as a five-match winless run culminated in a 1-0 home defeat to Rotherham United in October, but they have since bounced back and returned to the playoff fight, firstly returning to winning ways with a 2-1 away Yorkshire Derby victory over Doncaster Rovers.
Then on the back of an EFL Trophy loss to Lincoln City, Hourihane’s men hosted fellow promotion-chasers Luton Town on Saturday and took all three points in an emphatic 5-0 triumph as Reyes Cleary, Patrick Kelly and Luca Connell scored in the first half and Davis Keillor-Dunn added a fifth after Gideon Kodua’s own goal.
Those results have seen Barnsley climb up to 10th spot in England’s third tier, now only trailing sixth-placed Bolton Wanderers by three points with two games in hand, and at least one in hand on every side in the league, and they will look to break into the top six with a third straight win at the weekend.
Stockport County League One form:
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Stockport County form (all competitions):
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Barnsley League One form:
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Barnsley form (all competitions):
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Team News
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Stockport County remain without several key men through injuries, with defender Brad Hills and midfielders Oliver Norwood and Lewis Bate sidelined alongside Tayo Edun, Tyler Onyango and Ben Osborn.
Owen Dodgson will return from a suspension served in last Thursday’s defeat, though, and he could come back in on the left-hand side of a 3-4-3, allowing Odin Bailey to move back into the centre alongside Callum Camps or Owen Moxon.
Kyle Wootton remains a key man in the attack, having netted seven goals so far this season, with Nathan Lowe, who has also notched up seven goals, and Mallik Mothersille hoping to join him after Benony Breki Andresson and Jack Diamond got the nod in a front three against Peterborough.
Barnsley will field a similar starting XI from last week’s 5-0 thrashing of Luton Town, with Georgie Gent and Fabio Jalo remaining sidelined by injuries.
Midfielder Jonathan Bland will serve a suspension, though, after reaching five league yellow cards in that game, meaning Adam Phillips may come back in from the start after an injury layoff.
David McGoldrick and Caylan Vickers will compete for attacking starts, but Patrick Kelly, Reyes Cleary and Davis Keillor-Dunn will all keep their places after scoring last time out, with the latter moving onto 11 goals for the season in all competitions after hitting 18 in League One last term.
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Hinchliffe; Olowu, Connolly, Pye; O’Keefe, Moxon, Bailey, Dodgson; Diamond, Wootton, Lowe
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Watson, Roberts, Shepherd, Earl; Connell, Phillips; Kelly, Yoganathan, Cleary; Keillor-Dunn
We say: Stockport County 1-1 Barnsley
Barnsley head to Edgeley Park with plenty of momentum against a Stockport side on the back of consecutive heavy defeats, but the trip is certainly still a tough task, and we see the points being shared in somewhat of a positive result for both teams given their recent displays.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
