I always feel that Walsall and Stockport have a lot in common. Despite being amongst the largest towns in the country, they are of course in the perennial shadows of more illustrious neighbours, especially in the football sense. Despite this however both places have an identity distinct from their “city” neighbours, including an independent brewery (Stockport’s being Robinson’s).

Stocky fans are also generally a friendly bunch IMO, and tropical storms apart I’ve always found the trip to be an enjoyable experience.

As this is a night game I’ll keep the guide to those pubs near the ground which is in the separate suburb of Edgeley as distinct to Stockport town centre, in fact to be even more specific Castle Street, which offers just about everything you need for pre-match boozers.

In reverse order of merit The Jolly Crofter, although recently refurbed was so jolly on my last visit that I walked out after waiting 25 minutes to not be served.

The Armoury has always been a pleasant and very traditional Robinson’s pub although again I found the service to be pretty woeful to be honest, while The Robert Peel is also busy and welcoming, but very limited in its choice of ales.

For me the place to go for a good few years has been the Royal Oak on the corner of Castle Street, the one pub that seems able to mix atmosphere, quality and choice, service, and proximity to the ground. A good all round pre-match pub, especially suited to a Tuesday night when time might be at a premium and one doesn’t fancy doing much wandering. Although of course it is a couple of years since my last visit, when we actually won an away game under the previous regime!!

Let’s hope tomorrow night’s nervous pre-match supping gives way to the same euphoric abandonment that accompanied that never to be forgotten occasion.

A turnaround in fortunes is becoming somewhat urgent as the pack has closed right in. Richard Money is making noises about the need to bring in reinforcements, and is looking at the loan market for (unsurprisingly) a central midfielder and a winger, according to the Express and Star, but the good news is that at least the gap between the play off teams and the rest is already a chasm at 8 points (18 for us). The top seven have broken away, now is the time to make sure we stay in that top three.

There is no team news as yet from either camp, as the Official Sites are keeping mum as the teams assess the effects of the weekend games. Walsall will be hoping that Gerrard will have returned to fitness to give us more options at the back, but it’s not really that part of the field that Saddlers’ fans will be most worried about.

Hopefully, Michael Dobson will have recovered from his illness for the game and it’s difficult to see him playing that badly again, but there are question marks about all of the midfield. Pead doesn’t seem to have the same impact when he starts there, compared to when he comes on or moved there for the second half, as on Friday night, Keates was completely ineffectual in that game and neither Wright nor Fox ever looked like creating anything. Of the possible replacements, Wrack didn’t do much when he came on, Bedeau has still not found any form and Demontagnac proved in his 45 minutes in the previous home game that he’s not ready yet.

I think that Dicky Dosh may yet be tempted to go for a 4 5 1 (or 4 4 1 1) tomorrow night, which would be hard luck on Hector Sam if he were to be left out, as he was one of the better performers in the Lincoln game, but it would give Money the chance to bolster the misfiring midfield by bringing in the likes of Lyall.

Predictions?

This is the third of what has been a really difficult run of games. Hartlepool away, when they had, at the time, taken a grand total of 41 points from the previous 45 (now 47 from 51 available), Lincoln, the Division’s top scorers away from home, and now Stockport away. Stockport, I hear you say, why Stockport?

Well, they are, if anything, THE form side of the moment, even more so than Hartlepool, having won seven League games on the bounce and their last six home games in succession. If they were to win on Tuesday night they would equal a club record for successive home wins.

County, with their 1 – 0 win at Accrington on Saturday, also set a new club record of seven clean sheets on the trot, the first time they have ever done that within a season, so they are not easy to score against, either.

This is the most difficult of fixtures in the circumstances and it’s difficult to see us coming away from Edgeley Park with anything – which probably means a win, knowing us!