Stockport County taking on Southend United is hardly the mouth watering tie in which a unknown non-league team takes on a Football League club, battling it out to get to the second round of the worlds most famous cup.
But with County sitting their second year in the Blue Square Premier, we have to be classed as a non-league club and as such are massive underdogs in the FA Cup clash today at Roots Hall.
The team coach breaking down ahead of the game wouldn’t help, with the players having to take part in an eight-hour nightmare journey yesterday to get to Southend.
Most hold hopes of a draw, bringing Southend back to Edgeley Park and then dispatching them and moving onto the second round.
In reality County are 4/1 at the bookies and Southend, short priced favourites, should go through to the second round.
Last time County visited Southend was the first game of the season in which we were relegated to the Conference. A George Donnelly late goal gave County the lead and hope of a victory but Southend equalised in the 94th minute to start the season sharing the points.
Southend aren’t in the best home form, they’ve not turned Roots Hall into a fortress at all to be honest. A bag of all sorts is what you get when you look into Southend’s home form, certainly not a home team you would bank on putting on your coupon most weeks.
Vital Quotes:
Speaking to stockportcounty.com Jim Gannon said ‘If the opposition have weaknesses and you play to your strengths then anybody can win.
‘Our form away from home has been good. Southend are a solid side without being spectacular – they’ve got a lot of good, very experienced professionals. It’ll be a very tough game to win, but we know we’ve got certain attributes about ourselves, especially on our travels, that mean we can get a positive result.
‘If a positive result is that we get a draw and end up back at Edgeley, we play with a little bit more expansion and positivity then you never know. But first and foremost we’ve got to do what we’ve done at Braintree, Newport etc and go there and put in a display that earns us the right to be in the hat for the next round.’
Paul Sturrock, Southend boss, said ‘I’d rather it were a league game. I’d like to get kickstarted again in the league.
‘But cups are important to any football club financially. It’s a big game for us. We want to be in the next round.
‘Stockport are free scoring at this moment in time. They’re very strong. It will be a hard nut to crack.’
Southend United Team News:
Marc Laird and Jonson Clarke-Harris, both Southend loanees, have been cleared to play – but Assombalonga has been denied the opportunity to take part.
Freddy Eastwood is 50/50 and may be rested.
Player to watch: Freddy Eastwood
If fit Freddy Eastwood will be the one to watch and could cause County plenty of problems this afternoon.
He had so much promise early in his career and is one of those flair players you always have to keep your eye on – 55 goals for Southend point that out for you.
Stockport County Team News:
County have near enough a full squad to choose from after the return of Danny O’Donnell from injury. Only Alex Meaney sits out because of injury.
Tom Eckersley hasn’t got clearance to play and stays at home, whilst other loanees Danny Rowe and Paul Turnbull have.
Lewis King may find himself back in goal after Ian Ormson conceded three last weekend and gave away a penalty.
Player to watch: Danny Whitehead
Much has been made about Danny Whitehead and his ability so it will be interesting to see how he performs at the level above.
A good performance here could put him in the shop window in January.
Match Odds
William Hill have priced Southend 8/13 favourites whilst County are 9/2. You can get 11/4 on County bringing Southend back to Edgeley Park.
Tip – under 2.5 goals at 21/20 is always worth backing when County play away from home.
Next Fixtures:
County take on Barrow at home on Tuesday night.
