County will be looking to retain their place in the automatic promotion places with an eighth straight win in all competitions this weekend, as we travel to Harrogate Town in League Two.
A late header from Tanto Olaofe, his sixth goal in four games, saw County edge to a 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers last weekend to make it six wins from six in League Two, moving us up to second. It’s our highest league position since May 2010, when the club were relegated from League One.
Dave Challinor’s side now sit just one point behind league leaders Notts County, who host unbeaten Mansfield Town this weekend. That game at Meadow Lane is a 12.30pm KO, meaning we could even go into our game knowing a win would take us top, should Luke Williams’ side drop points.
After making ten changes in midweek, a superb Paddy Madden hat-trick saw us beat Salford City 3-1 in the EFL Trophy to leave qualification from the group in our own hands. That seventh win on the bounce takes us a step closer to the club record of ten, achieved twice by our National League title-winning side two years ago.
Despite midweek defeat to Accrington in the Trophy, opponents Harrogate come into the game on their best run of form in the league this season. Last weekend’s 2-1 win away at Newport County was a third victory in four games for the Sulphurites, who have climbed up to 15th in the table.
How to watch:
Tickets in the away end for this game have sold out, but as it takes place during an international weekend the game is available for all supporters to watch over on Stockport County Live!
Video match passes are available to purchase online now, for just £10 – featuring live commentary from Jon Keighren and Liam Richardson. Click here to buy yours online today!
Our Opponents:
Despite another season spent towards the foot of the table for Simon Weaver’s side, Harrogate successfully secured a fourth straight season as an EFL club with a second successive 19th place finish.
For large parts of the season the poor form of Rochdale and Hartlepool United in the bottom two meant Harrogate never looked in serious danger of dropping into the relegation zone, but a 3-1 defeat at home to County in February started a run of just two wins in 14 that saw them sucked into the survival scrap.
They sat just three points above the drop zone with five games to go, but a late surge saw them pick up ten points from those final five to pull clear of danger. Despite that, there will have been disappointment at their final points tally of 52 – their lowest since winning promotion to the Football League for the first time in 2020.
Manager Simon Weaver has been in charge of the club since 2009, making him the longest-serving boss in the Football League, and the 45-year-old has had to deal with the loss of some important players over the close season.
Key midfielder Alex Pattison has made the short move to Bradford City, whilst Southampton loanee Kazeem Olaigbe, so impressive in the second half of last season, has since moved on to join Belgian side Cercle Brugge.
The club were also expected to lose talismanic striker Luke Armstrong in the window too after a protracted transfer saga, only for a move to Wrexham to fall apart in the final moments of deadline day. The forward has yet to rediscover his form in front of goal and has found himself out of the starting line-up in recent weeks.
The Sulphurites have made some shrewd additions of their own in experienced players such as defenders Liam Gibson and Rodney McDonald, signed from Morecambe and Crewe respectively, as well as making the loan deals of key players Matty Foulds and Matty Daly permanent over the summer.
Things got off to a rocky start this season with just two wins from their opening eight games in League Two, as well as an embarrassing 8-0 defeat at home to Championship side Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Since claiming a hard-earned point away at Bradford City last month, live on Sky Sports, Weaver’s side have bounced back impressively – going on to win three of the last four in League Two with victories against Salford City, MK Dons and Newport. The only side to beat them in the last five games was high-flying AFC Wimbledon.
It leaves them in a good place as they look to push on; their 16 points gathered is already double the amount they had after the same number of games last year, and despite being 15th they sit closer to the play-off places than they do the relegation zone.
They will be targeting a first ever Football League win over County this weekend, as they hint at better things to come this season.
Match Stats:
- Saturday will be the 17th competitive encounter between the two sides since first meeting in 2013, with County winning seven games to Harrogate’s six over that time.
- County are looking to record a seventh straight EFL win for the first time since the famous nine in a row in 2006/07. Tuesday’s EFL Trophy win means we are also closing in on the current club record of ten straight wins – set twice under Dave Challinor in the 2021/22 season.
- Paddy Madden’s midweek hat-trick took him up to 48 County goals. The Irishman is looking to become the first player to score 50 for the club since Alun Armstrong in September 1997.
- Tanto Olaofe’s goal last week was his ninth in his last 11 appearances for the club, having scored three times in the 25 games prior to that run. His first for the club came in our 3-1 win at Harrogate last season.
