Stockport County manager Dave Challinor has acknowledged League Two will be more challenging next season after losing on penalties to Carlisle in the playoff final, with quotes from Football League World.
The Hatters 2022/23 season ended in heartbreak on the weekend after penalties decided the winner of the League Two playoff final. Despite taking the lead early on, Stockport failed to maintain their advantage and is now set for a new campaign in the fourth tier of English football, which will be “different” and potentially more challenging.
What Has Stockport Achieved This Season?
Returning to the EFL after becoming champions in the National League, the Blues’ first season back after 12 seasons out began in slow fashion. With just two wins in their opening 11 games, it wasn’t till after the new year that the Hatters began their promotion push.
Losing just one of their last 18 games in League Two, Challinor’s men came close to automatic promotion before an unsuccessful attempt in the playoffs.
A Competitive League Two Season Ahead
With the season finished, the 24 challengers for the 2023/24 season are now set, with the boss already acknowledging the difficulty in opponents.
The big dogs in Bradford, Swindon and Salford remain, while Wrexham and Notts County from the National League already look like promotion seekers. Not to forget the four relegated sides from League One, the fourth tier looks like many good teams will miss out on the top-seven places.
What’s Been Said:
Speaking after the events at Wembley on Sunday, Challinor spoke about some of the upcoming competition and their goal of automatic promotion.
“We’re set in terms of recruitment and where we’d like to strengthen if we could, and we’re set for pre-season.
“League Two will be different next year the teams that are coming into it certainly from the National League, Wrexham and Notts County, are strong teams.
“The teams coming down are a bit of an unknown in terms of where they currently sit and what their focus will be.
“Then you’ve got Doncaster Rovers, big investment for them, and Gillingham, who invested in January and will likely go again, so it’ll be a different dynamic next year.
“So we know next year that we’re going to have to get upwards of 80, maybe even higher than 83, to make sure we guarantee ourselves in place in that top three.”
Writer’s View
Now that the playoff final is complete, League Two next season certainly looks like it has a bunch of competitive clubs. At the front of that will be Stockport who finished the season tremendously, however, just fell short at the end. With motivation in their minds, that added boost may be the extra difference when it comes to next year.
