Stockport County boss Dave Challinor says he’ll make some changes to his side ahead of tonight’s EFL Cup clash v Sheffield Wednesday, and he expects Xisco Munoz to do the same too.
Sheffield Wednesday host Stockport County in the opening round of the EFL Cup later tonight. It marks Munoz’s second game in charge of the Owls following last Friday’s defeat v Southampton, which ended 2-1 following a hard-fought battle.
League Two Stockport also lost their opening game of the season, falling to a 1-0 defeat v Gillingham. And speaking to the club ahead of tonight’s game (as quoted by The Star), boss Challinor had this to say:
“It’s a great game to play in, in terms of going to Hillsborough. It’s another challenge similar to last weekend with them being a Championship team – and they’ll be stinging a little bit from their result last night (Friday), just as we are.”
And discussing potential team news, Challinor added:
“I’m sure they’ll [Sheffield Wednesday] make changes, we’ll make some changes, but we’re not going to play people for the sake of playing people. We’ll put a team out there that we want to go and win the game with.
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“We won’t risk any that potentially have hangovers from our last game, if you like, but we’ll positive with our approach and be looking to progress in a cup competition and see what that brings.”
Stockport County finished 4th in the last League Two season. They reached the play-off final but were beaten on penalties by Carlisle United.
Since, the Hatters have had a busy summer transfer window bringing in 11 new players, with the free signing of released Stoke City man Nick Powell being their standout capture.
Changes in the air for Wednesday?
With eight new players having come through the Hillsborough doors this summer, Munoz actually has a bit of squad depth to work with.
And with another tough Championship outings on the cards this Saturday at Hull City, expect Munoz to make changes where possible.
We can see some new faces in action – the likes of Di’Shon Bernard and Pol Valentin didn’t play on Friday and so they could be in from the off tonight.
But Munoz needs to be very wary of the threat that that Stockport pose – another defeat could really dent Wednesday’s confidence.
Tonight’s game kicks off at 7:45pm.