Stockport County manager Dave Challinor targets title with team close to glory

Paddy Madden's hat-trick at Sutton has put Stockport on the brink of promotion

Stockport will be virtually promoted from League Two with a win at Colchester on Tuesday night.

Victory in Essex and defeat for Mansfield at home to Forest Green Rovers would mean Dave Challinor's team go straight up on the night.

Even if Mansfield avoid defeat, a Stockport win would mean they have to lose a goal difference advantage of more than 25 over MK Dons to miss out.

Challinor made it plain he wants the title as well as winning promotion.

Paddy Madden's hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Sutton means County are on the brink of going up just two years after securing promotion back to the EFL.

They suffered the heartache of losing a penalty shootout to Carlisle in last season's play-off final but now need four points from their last five games to be certain.

Mansfield and Wrexham can still overhaul them but the only other team capable of denying them a top three place are MK Dons, who have no midweek game.

A Mansfield defeat by bottom club Forest Green, coupled with the fact that the Stags play the Dons next Tuesday, would mean only one of those two could still catch Stockport.

A Stockport victory at Colchester would mean the Dons could still equal their points tally but would need a miracle to overturn the goal difference gap in the last few games, with Stockport on 41 and MK on 16.

Challinor made it clear he wants no let-up and wants to bring home the club's first Football League title since 1967, when they were promoted from the old fourth division as champions.

'Looking towards winning title'

After the Sutton win, Challinor told BBC Radio Manchester: "I spoke to the players before the game about these next four days being massively important to us, and if we could take six points, though not mathematically box-ticked in terms of promotion, it puts us in a really, really good place.

"That remains the same, so our motivation is to get across the line as quickly as possible and, without question, when that happens we will celebrate it.

"That doesn't take away from the fact that our objective at the start of this season was to be champions of this division and we still have the opportunity to do that.

"We're not as close to that in terms of touching distance so we want to go and win on Tuesday and then we can re-evaluate, see where we're at and look towards winning that title.

"We have that bit between our teeth where we know where we're at, we've been doubted and questioned by many people and have a real motivation to go and achieve what was set out at the start of the season by our group - and we're getting closer to that."

Madden, 34, has been used sparingly at times this season despite his 18 goals but has started the last four as Challinor seeks to tap into the experience that saw him help Yeovil into the Championship in 2013 as well as being central to Stockport's National League title win in 2022.

Madden said: "When I signed here, I said I'd help the team get up the leagues.

"Nothing's done yet but if I do get that double promotion, it would mean a lot to me to take a massive club like Stockport from the National League up to League One, hopefully.

"The owner obviously had a plan. It did raise a few eyebrows when I signed because I left League One to come down here. What helped me coming here was nearly signing here when I was 15.

"I remembered the atmosphere from the games back then and that helped persuade me to come here and it's obviously a massive club. To play a part and help a team like this get back up the leagues means a lot to me.

"There's nothing better than having a summer when you go off on your family holidays knowing you've been promoted with your team."