Stockport boss Dave Challinor: Stevenage win is as significant as we make it

Posted Sunday, February 19, 2023 by PA

Stockport boss Dave Challinor urged his in-form side to keep their run going after they saw off second-placed Stevenage 2-0 in League Two.

Will Collar and substitute Ryan Rydel were on target as County roared to a fourth straight win.

Stockport have moved into the mix for the automatic promotion battle, sitting four points off third and five behind Stevenage.

And Challinor said: “That’s a great win for us, but it’s as significant a win as we make it.

“It’s a win which keeps the momentum going, and it was a massively important one.

“We knew what their plan was. They were quite passive in the first half and we needed to wrestle control.

“We got ourselves in front, and then in the second half it was a different game.

“We knew that if we were good enough and brave enough, we’d have enough to get a result.

“We stood up well to their threat in the second half.

“We weren’t necessarily comfortable, it was marginal, but we managed the game well and got ourselves a huge result.”

There are 15 games left for Stockport and Challinor is ruling nothing out.

He added: “They’re all big games from here on in, starting on Tuesday at Rochdale.

“Knowing the league and the nature of it, you can draw two games and drop out of the play-off positions, but you can win two and get into the top three.

“We won’t get carried away, but it’s a live situation and we just need to keep winning.”

Stevenage’s mini-blip continued. They remain in second place, but this was a fourth league game without a win.

However, Evans saw enough to not be too downbeat.

“I probably agree that we were second best in the first half, but I didn’t see it that way in the second,” said Evans.

“We just didn’t do the basics right at times in that first half, so I changed it a bit at half-time and the subs made a difference.

“We were a lot better after that, and we certainly should have made it 1-1 before they made it 2-0 at the end.

“It’s a tough one for us to take, so let’s just see if we can bounce back now.

“Don’t forget, Stockport are a really good side, with very good support behind them.

“The referee was OK today, so maybe we didn’t get the rub of the green when we needed it.

“We had the chances to make it 1-1, but when you make a mistake like we did at the end, you get punished.”

On his side’s winless run, he added: “Is it a concern? It shouldn’t be.

“You need to break things down into isolation.

“At times this season we’ve got 15 points out of 15, but just lately we have been missing some big, big players.

“Hopefully over the next seven to 10 days we’ll get some of those lads back, but for today we’ll take the pain and move on.

“I’ve learned quite a lot about the players we did have out there today, and I don’t think too many people could have complained if it had finished 1-1.

“They catch us on the break, though, there’s a mistake which they capitalise on, and it ends up 2-0.”