Stevenage embark on a 180-mile trip to Edgeley Park tomorrow for a tough test against Dave Challinor’s promotion chasing Stockport County…
Stevenage are unbeaten away from home in league matches since September and have drawn their last six away outings in the league. The side sit second in Sky Bet League Two, five points clear of fourth place with a game in hand.
Earlier this week, Boro picked up yet another point on the road through goals from Luke Norris and Jordan Roberts in South Wales.
After winning The National League title at the end of last season and returning to The Football League, Stockport County became instant favourites for the Sky Bet League Two ahead of this campaign. Despite a quiet start to life in League Two, The Hatters soon found their predicted form and surged up the table. They now find themselves seventh in League Two after picking up an impressive twelve wins from their last nineteen league matches.
The Hatters have won their last three league games with the most recent coming earlier this week. Stockport welcomed Crawley Town to Edgeley Park and picked up a 2-1 victory thanks to a Kyle Wootton brace. Wootton is Stockport’s top scorer this season with eleven goals to his name.
Dave Challinor arrived as Stockport boss in November 2021 with the club ninth in The National League. He then guided his side to the title in May and returned Stockport County to The Football League. Challinor will undoubtedly look for back-to-back promotions and lead his side to Sky Bet League One.
Stevenage have met Stockport on just four occasions in the past and are yet to fall short to their Greater Manchester opponents. The very first encounter between the sides was in the 2003/04 FA Cup as non-League Boro knocked out Second Division (League One) Stockport through Dino Maamria’s brace.
The two clubs met once again in the 2010/11 League Two campaign as Stevenage won the home encounter 3-1 and drew the away fixture 2-2. Current Boro man Michael Bostwick appeared in both of those fixtures and even scored in the 3-1 victory.
This season’s reverse fixture ended 2-1 at The Lamex Stadium thanks to two late goals from Luke Norris and Jamie Reid.
Edgeley Park was built in 1891 and has been home to Stockport County since 1902. The ground holds a capacity of 10,841 and a record attendance of 27,833 was set in 1950 as Liverpool arrived at Edgeley Park for an FA Cup clash.
Away supporters are typically housed in The Railway End.
Robert Madden has been appointed Match Referee for tomorrow’s fixture with David Avent and Matthew Parry as Assistants and Sebastian Stockbridge as Fourth Official.
Madden has officiated in Europa League, Champions League and International matches in the past. This season, he has dished out fifty-eight yellow cards and four reds in twenty matches.
