After two weeks without a game, Sutton return to action tomorrow hoping to continue the form of the Christmas period which saw a run of four consecutive victories before a single goal defeat at Chesterfield. U’s make a first ever visit to Edgeley Park to face Stockport County, a Football League side as recently as 2011 but who returned to the National League in the summer from the other direction after winning the Northern Division.
It will be an intriguing trip for U’s to a side that has been inconsistent this season, making a good start with only two defeats in their first nine games but then plummeting down the table due to a run of six games without a goal, which saw five straight defeats before they gathered a point on their visit to Sutton at the start of October, a game in which Sutton’s off-target shot count went in to double figures (above, Tommy Wright looks for a breakthrough). Since then Stockport have moved themselves back to the fringes of the play-offs and lie 8th, outside the play-offs on goal difference behind Boreham Wood, who won at Edgeley Park a fortnight ago. Consistency has still been a problem, best shown by a 4-1 home defeat to Solihull immediately followed with a 5-1 win at Torquay.
They go in to tomorrow’s game without a win this year, and having suffered a heavy home defeat to South Division Dorking Wanderers in the FA Trophy on Tuesday, but news of a change of ownership on Friday, and the addition of three new signings in the past week, will have raised the mood at Edgeley Park. Halifax’s leading scorer Liam McAlinden was signed on a permanent basis, with defender Eddie Clarke and striker Jordan Archer then joining on loan from Fleetwood and Port Vale respectively.
U’s have also added to the squad since the Chesterfield game, centre back Coby Rowe joining from Haringey, but will be without Craig Eastmond tomorrow as he begins a four match ban after his red card at Chesterfield, the three match ban added to by one as it was Craig’s second sending off of the season. However the two week break has given several players the chance to recover from knocks.
We will have the usual commentary on our Mixlr channel tomorrow.
