Preview: Stockport County vs. Bromley - prediction, team news, lineups

An important game takes place in the top half of the National League table on Saturday, as Stockport County welcome Bromley to Edgeley Park.

The visitors currently occupy fourth spot, having not lost any of their last nine outings, while the hosts will look to climb back up from 10th spot after making a return to winning ways in their most recent league game.

Match preview

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Heading into the season with high hopes, Stockport County had a strong start to the National League campaign, moving onto 17 points after 10 games following consecutive wins over Wrexham, Weymouth and Aldershot Town.

Their form took a hit in October though, as they were handed back-to-back 2-1 defeats by Notts County and Barnet to drop to 12th spot.

That led to the departure of former boss Simon Rusk, and the Lancashire outfit bounced back in style, thrashing Dover Athletic 5-2 away from home thanks to goals from Scott Quigley, Paddy Madden, Ollie Crankshaw, Liam Hogan and Ben Whitfield.

County acted quickly to appoint Dave Challinor as manager, and his first game in charge came on Saturday, as they faced the tough test of a short trip to third-tier Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup.

They gave an impressive account of themselves, earning an eye-catching 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Quigley and Whitfield, and, ahead of the replay, they will look to keep building momentum under the new manager with what would be a second straight league win.

Challinor's men face a particularly difficult task though, as they welcome a Bromley side who have not lost in nine league games.

After a mixed start to the league campaign, Andy Woodman's side quickly kicked into gear, winning six games in a row before playing out commendable draws with Notts County and Halifax Town.

The Ravens made a return to winning ways in the most recent National League game, as a trip to Woking resulted in a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from George Alexander and Jack Cawley in the final 10 minutes.

However, they now head into Saturday's trip on the back of a defeat, as Woodman's men were beaten 3-0 way from home by League One high-flyers Rotherham United in FA Cup action on Saturday.

Having understandably fallen to a side two levels above themselves in the football pyramid, Bromley will now look to avoid derailing in the league, with the chance to stretch their unbeaten run to 10 fifth-tier games on Saturday.

Team News

Stockport caught eyes with the recent capture of Bolton Wanderers captain Antoni Sarcevic, but the midfielder was unable to face his former side last weekend due to an injury, and he may again miss out on Saturday.

Scott Quigley and Ben Whitfield will continue to be key men going forward, having both found the net in consecutive games.

Paddy Madden also offers plenty of experience in attack, having netted four league goals this term after scoring 51 goals in 149 appearances for Fleetwood Town.

Bromley have refrained from making many team changes during their impressive run of form, and Woodman should continue to deploy a similar starting XI, featuring the back three of Omar Sowunmi, Chris Bush and Byron Webster.

Their line will again be led by Michael Cheek, who ranks second in the league scoring charts with 10 goals in 13 appearances.

Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Ross; Minihan, Hogan, Palmer, Kitching; Croasdale, Rooney; Crankshaw, Whitfield; Madden, Quigley

Bromley possible starting lineup:
Cousins; Sowumni, Bush, Webster; Coulson, Bingham, Trotter, Whitely; Alexander, Cheek, Sablier

We say: Stockport County 2-1 Bromley

Despite Bromley's eye-catching league record, we see them falling to a defeat on Saturday after the two sides' contrasting cup results.

We expect Stockport to pick up steam under Challinor, while the visitors' confidence may have taken a hit heading into a tough away trip.

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