Stockport County boss Dave Challinor seemed rather disappointed with the performance that his side put out in their 1-1 draw with Crawley Town on Monday night.
A win for Stockport would’ve seen them go within two points of table-toppers Mansfield Town, however the gap now sits at four points. Although Challinor’s side do still have a game in hand on the Stags, it was very much a missed opportunity which would’ve put the title race in their own hands with a win.
The results means that the Hatters are now unbeaten in their last five, however just one of those has brought three points. As a result, just a singular point now separates them and fourth-placed MK Dons and the race for the automatic places is seriously hotting up.
Significantly, Challinor’s men do have a game in hand over Wrexham in third and two over MK Dons in fourth but there is no guarantee that they make those games count, especially based on recent form. It does feel as if it is two points dropped rather than one gained given the circumstances, but Crawley do deserve credit.
Prior to the clash on Monday, the Red Devils had won five of their last six and they themselves still hold promotion ambitions this season albeit via the play-offs. A point on the road especially to a team in Crawley’s form can still be seen as an ok result, but it seems as if the manner of the result is what has disappointed the manager.
Speaking to club media, Challinor gave his verdict on the draw with Crawley.
“It’s definitely a missed opportunity because of how we performed in the first half. In the first half of the last few games we’ve wasted 45 minutes twice.
On Thursday (against Salford) we gave ourselves a lot to do, tonight (Monday) we didn’t give ourselves the best chance of getting into a leadin position through our own real sloppiness and going off of the plan of what we asked the players to do.”
“On reflection, we should’ve won the game based off of the second half performance. We don’t defend one situation ultimately ends up with us going home with just one point.”
Writer’s View
Stockport’s unbeaten run continues but they’ve not looked nearly as convincing as earlier in the season in recent weeks. Nonetheless it is still a point on the road against a decent side. It’s slightly disappointing given the circumstances but they’re still in a good position to achieve automatic promotion this season.
They have a huge game on Saturday night as they host MK Dons and if dealt a loss, then they could well fall out of the automatic places. Challinor will no doubt want to get over the disappointment of Monday night and a win on Saturday would certainly send a statement out to the teams around them. It’s a pivotal game in the course of the season and based on recent form, may not go in Stockport’s favour but a better performance than the one against Crawley will be expected.
