Stockport County will welcome Barnsley to Edgeley Park on Saturday for an important contest in the fight for top-six spots in the League One table.
In the midst of contrasting runs of form, the hosts have climbed to fourth spot and moved seven points ahead of their visitors.
Match preview
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Stockport County return to Edgeley Park on Saturday aiming to continue a fine run of form in League One and further strengthen their standing in the playoff spots.
After winning two promotions in the last three seasons to return to England's third tier for the first time since 2010, the Hatters have enjoyed another strong campaign under the management of Dave Challinor thus far, currently sitting fourth having amassed 50 points from their 29 games.
The Greater Manchester outfit did see their playoff hopes take a major hit after Christmas in a four-match winless run, but they have since bounced back in style with four straight league victories, firstly seeing off Reading and Crawley Town in January.
After then scraping past strugglers Shrewsbury Town in a 1-0 win thanks to Oliver Norwood's free-kick goal, Challinor's men most recently faced a tough trip to sixth-placed Leyton Orient last weekend and again prevailed by a single goal, as Kyle Wootton netted the winner early on.
Having now climbed to fourth spot thanks to their hot streak, trailing third-placed Wrexham by five points and leading seventh, eighth and ninth spots by six, albeit having played a game more than the four sides below them, Stockport County will aim to make it five wins on the bounce and further cement their top-six standing on Saturday.
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In their way stand a visiting side who head to Edgeley Park hoping to end a slump and narrow their own gap up to the playoff spots.
Barnsley enjoyed a strong first half to their third straight League One promotion bid, sitting in the top six after putting 42 points on the board from 25 outings, having won 12 and only lost seven of those.
Darrell Clarke's side have since added just one more point to that tally in four further attempts, though, firstly suffering 3-1 and 1-0 defeats to Bristol Rovers and Stevenage respectively.
A trip to second-placed Wycombe Wanderers then followed, and after leading through Jon Russell the Reds were condemned to a third straight loss by Richard Kone's second-half brace, before they most recently hosted strugglers Burton Albion on Saturday and took a share of the spoils from a goalless stalemate.
Given how tight the top end of League One is, Barnsley's recent slump has seen them fall to 10th spot, but only trailing sixth spot by a single point, they have the chance to return to the playoff places if they can bounce back to winning ways in another tough away trip at the weekend.
Team News
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Dave Challinor will likely field an unchanged Stockport County starting XI from last week's away win over Leyton Orient, with Nick Powell remaining confined to the treatment room.
Following the return of League One top scorer Louie Barry to Aston Villa in January, the Hatters will rely on Kyle Wootton and Isaac Olaofe going forward, having managed nine and six goals respectively this term, with Barnsley loanee Sam Cosgrove not eligible to debut against his parent club.
Wootton will likely lead the line ahead of Olaofe, Will Collar and Macauley Southam-Hales, while Oliver Norwood and Lewis Bate will continue their midfield partnership despite competition from new arrival Owen Moxon and Callum Connolly and Ethan Pye will again line up in the middle of the defence.
Barnsley are without defender Marc Roberts on Saturday, as he continues to serve a three-match suspension, while attacker Fabio Jalo remains ruled out with an injury.
In Roberts's absence, Mael de Gevigney, Donovan Pines and Josh Earl will continue in a back three in front of new goalkeeper Joe Gauci, who earned a clean sheet on his debut last weekend following a loan move from Aston Villa.
Luca Connell should return to the midfield from the start, likely joining Adam Phillips and Jon Russell, while Davis Keillor-Dunn and Stephen Humphrys should continue their attacking partnership, with the former leading the squad on 10 goals for the season.
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Hinchliffe; Knoyle, Connolly, Pye, Touray; Norwood, Bate; Southam-Hales, Collar, Olaofe; Wootton
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Gauci; De Gevigney, Pines, Earl; O'Keefe, Phillips, Connell, Russell, Gent; Keillor-Dunn, Humphrys
We say: Stockport County 2-1 Barnsley
Given the contrasting form of the two sides, we back Stockport County to again come out on top at the weekend with home advantage on their side and growing momentum in their promotion bid.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
