Stockport County fall to convincing loss against Salford City

Salford City 3 - 1 Stockport County

Stockport County suffered their first defeat of this season’s EFL Trophy, falling to a convincing loss against League Two side Salford City.

Author | Alan Thompson

Stadium | The Peninsula Stadium

The Hatters had been aiming to build on their opening win over Wolves U21s and take control of Group A, but the defeat leaves them needing a result against Wigan Athletic in their final group fixture to secure a place in the knockout rounds.

Despite making eight changes, Dave Challinor still named a strong side for their second fixture of the EFL Trophy campaign, with Jayden Fevrier, Nathan Lowe and Callum Connolly all coming into the line-up

Josh Austerfield opened the scoring for the hosts ten minutes before half-time, setting the tone for a dominant display. Jay Bird and Kallum Cesay added further goals after the break before Odin Bailey pulled one back late on for Stockport.

READ MORE | County show promotion credentials with win at Huddersfield

READ MORE | News from across Salford

That was as close as the visitors came to a comeback. Jayden Fevrier went close with a late effort, but the result leaves Dave Challinor’s side with work still to do to reach the last 32.

For Salford, the win puts them firmly in control of the group. They sit on six points, three clear of both Stockport and Wolves U21s, with a far superior goal difference. A draw against the young Wolves in early November would be enough to see them through to the end of the season.

Next up for both sides

Next up, Stockport return to League One action at home to Blackpool as they look to move back into the play-off places and close in on the top two. Salford, meanwhile, host eighth-placed Chesterfield in League Two, hoping to end a run of back-to-back defeats and reignite their push for automatic promotion.