Separated by just a single point in the League Two rankings, second-placed Stockport County and fourth-placed MK Dons square off in a tie of colossal proportions on Saturday evening.
The hosts' recent plateau continued in a 1-1 draw away to Crawley Town on Monday night, two days after their visitors made light work of Crewe Alexandra in a 3-1 victory.
Match preview
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Not since October have Stockport found themselves outside the podium positions in League Two, but after looking a surefire bet for the fourth-tier title earlier this season, Dave Challinor's men could be playing catch-up in the race for automatic promotion with a dissatisfactory result on Saturday.
A far cry from the side that won an extraordinary 13 games on the bounce in all competitions from September to November, Stockport now have just one triumph to show from their last seven matches in League Two and played out their fourth draw in five away to Crawley on March 18.
Antoni Sarcevic's header from a Todd Kane corner just after the hour mark had Stockport on course for an increasingly rare victory, but Klaidi Lolos's late intervention left Challinor's men deflated at full time and with the destiny of the League Two crown out of their own hands.
Second-placed Stockport now have a four-point deficit to make up to leaders Mansfield Town, although they still possess a game in hand over both the table toppers and Wrexham - one point behind in third place - but they will drop below the automatic promotion line with defeat at Edgeley Park on Saturday.
The hosts' recent affinity for stalemates at least means that they enter Saturday's tantalising tie on a five-match unbeaten run, and just 15 goals shipped at home is the second-best record of its kind in League Two, but only two of their six fourth-tier matches at Edgeley Park in 2024 have seen Challinor's men prevail.
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Able to supplant their upcoming hosts in the top three with all three points at Edgeley Park, MK Dons arrive on Stockport soil having also been pegged back after taking a one-goal lead last time out, as Matthew Dennis's fifth-minute opener against fellow promotion hopefuls Crewe was quickly cancelled out by Elliott Nevitt.
Unlike Stockport, though, Mike Williamson's men were able to respond to that minor setback, as Dennis notched his second of the match before Stephen Wearne capped off a 25-minute flurry of goals, thereby earning MK Dons their third win from four League Two contests.
Already boasting an 11-point advantage over Walsall and safe in the knowledge that a playoff place is surely the worst that they can hope for, Williamson's side are now only behind Wrexham on goal difference and one point adrift of Stockport, meaning that victory this weekend would see them rise above the desired dotted line.
The visitors' automatic promotion hopes are still out of their own hands, though, as Stockport have two games in hand while Mansfield and Wrexham have played one fewer fixture, and MK Dons do not have their away form to thank for their current fourth-placed standing.
Indeed, Williamson's side have been overcome in four of their last six League Two matches on the road, where they are without a clean sheet since November 11, and Stockport left MK Dons' Stadium mk home with a 2-1 triumph to their name back in September.
Team News
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Only one of Stockport's troops will be absent from the squad on account of an international call-up - left-back Ibou Touray has been chosen to represent Gambia - although his absence may be problematic after Ethan Bristow came off in the first half of their draw with Salford City on March 14.
Touray was summoned to replace his stricken teammate, who is facing around three weeks out with a shoulder problem, Challinor has confirmed, so either Lewis Cass or Myles Hippolyte should be shoe-horned into a left-back role this weekend.
Fellow defender Macauley Southam-Hales would be an alternative option had he not ruptured his patellar tendon, which will sideline him from anywhere between six and nine months.
Meanwhile, MK Dons have been totally unaffected by international call-ups this month, and none of Williamson's troops reported any physical glitches following their triumph over Crewe.
On-loan Aston Villa goalkeeper Filip Marschall and 20-year-old striker Max Dean are both in the infirmary, though, while 39-year-old Dean Lewington is yet to feature since being sent off against Wrexham on February 20.
That appearance marked an astonishing 902nd match for MK Dons for Lewington, who has dedicated 20 years of his senior career to this weekend's visitors, but there is no route back into the first team for him at this moment in time.
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Hinchcliffe; Kane, Horsfall, Pye, Cass; Bailey, Camps, Sarcevic; Madden; Olaofe, Wootton
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Kelly; Williams, O'Hora, Harvie; Lofthouse, Bate, Payne, Tomlinson; Gilbey, Wearne; Dennis
We say: Stockport County 1-1 MK Dons
Stockport boss Challinor has labelled Saturday's enticing showdown as one that both sides simply have to win, but the hosts' recent failures to convert one point into three and MK Dons' propensity to fall short on the road may put paid to that idea.
The Hatters are certainly nowhere near the force that they were during the earliest months of the campaign, but even with their crisis on the left-hand side of the backline, we can envisage the defensively-sound hosts maintaining their top-three position by taking a point off an MK Dons crop who do not travel well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
