The Dave Challinor era at Stockport County begins on Sunday, as we travel to League One Bolton Wanderers looking to cause an upset in the Emirates FA Cup First Round, in front of 5,000 travelling fans.
County’s 5-2 win away at Dover last weekend under the interim management of Dave Conlon saw us move up to ninth in the league table, back to within touching distance of the play-offs and with plenty still to play for under our new manager.
The former Hartlepool boss could not have asked for a much bigger test for his first match in charge, as we take on the side currently 16th in League One.
He can perhaps take confidence from the First Round of last season’s competition though, when County knocked out a Rochdale side also sat in 16th place in the third tier, winning 2-1 away from home. That win, which will be a year ago to the day on Sunday, was part of County’s journey to the Third Round last year, the furthest we had gone in the competition since 2007.
Bolton, meanwhile, ended a five-game winless run with a victory at Rochdale of their own, winning 3-0 there in the Papa Johns Trophy. They will be looking to improve on last season’s cup run, which saw them exit the competition at the first attempt against Crewe Alexandra.
Match Stats:
To say the last few years have been turbulent for Bolton Wanderers and their fans would be an understatement. In the Premier League as recently as 2012, and playing in Europe less than twenty years ago, back-to-back relegations amid financial turmoil meant The Trotters spent last season in League Two; just the second time in their history they have spent time in the fourth tier.
Things weren’t looking much better for the Lancashire side around the turn of the year either, as 24 games in they sat 17th in the table after a slow start under new manager Ian Evatt, who had joined from Barrow in the Summer.
The club underwent a remarkable turnaround in the second-half of the season as they won an 16 of their final 22 league games, losing just three times, to rocket up the league table, claiming the division’s final automatic promotion place with a 4-1 win away at Crawley on the final day.
Back in League One at the first attempt, Wanderers had a busy off season in the transfer marker as they set about looking to make a mark this season.
Amongst their incomings has been Sierra Leonean striker Amadou Bakayoko from Coventry, midfielder Josh Sheehan from Newport and goalkeeper Joel Dixon, who has joined from Evatt’s old club Barrow. Forward Oladapo Afolayan joined permanently after a loan spell from West Ham last season, and is their top scorer so far with seven goals.
They have, of course, also lost their captain recently, as Antoni Sarcevic made the move to Edgeley Park on a free transfer, just a few weeks ago.
Two thrilling 3-3 draws in their first two league games against MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon were part of a strong start to the season from Evatt’s men, who lost just one of their first seven games back in the division.
As recently as a month ago the side sat just outside the play-off places after a 2-1 win against Shrewsbury, in which Sarcevic scored the opener, but a 4-0 defeat at home to Wigan kickstarted a miserable run of one point from five games.
Last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth leave the side four points above the relegation zone and now looking nervously over their shoulders, rather than at the sides above, and they will be looking to start a good cup run this weekend to help reignite their campaign.
Match Stats:
- This will be County’s first meeting with Bolton since an FA Cup Third Round tie in 2002, which the then Premier League side won 4-1 at Edgeley Park. Our last game against them at the University of Bolton Stadium (then the Reebok) saw Shefki Kuqi score in a 1-1 draw.
- County are actually unbeaten at The University of Bolton Stadium, winning two and drawing one of our previous three visits there.
- Paddy Madden now has five goals in his last seven appearances this season, having failed to score in his first seven this season.
- Dave Challinor’s best run in the FA Cup as a manager came in 2019/20, as he led non-league Hartlepool to the Third Round – knocking out League Two Exeter en route.
