Dave Challinor has big stick-or-twist decision to make at Stockport County this summer | OneFootball

Stockport County will be gearing up for another promotion push over the summer

Stockport County boss Dave Challinor has plenty of big calls to make over the summer as he prepares for another promotion push in League One.

He may have hoped to be doing his business as a Championship side this summer after a strong season, finishing third in League One, but the Hatters were narrowly edged out of the play-offs on penalties against Leyton Orient.

Therefore, the recruits needed to strengthen their promotion credentials in League One will be vastly different to what would have been available, and required, for survival in the second tier.

There will be plenty for the manager to address, but one tricky decision in particular will need to be made in Challinor’s attacking unit.

Neither Kyle Wootton or Tanto Olaofe deserve to be axed

A striker may not seem like the most burning need in the Hatters’ squad after a strong season from both Kyle Wootton and Tanto Olaofe, the club’s two primary strikers.

Wootton managed to register 11 goals across the season and, impressively for a target man, added seven assists too.

Not only that, but he has served as an ideal link further back on the pitch, giving Corey Addai a target to hit with his accurate distribution, especially when Wootton is surrounded by direct, powerful runners like Olaofe, Jack Diamond and Jayden Fevrier.

Olaofe’s game has once again become more refined. He has always had the raw attributes as an intimidating, pacey striker, but he now boasts much greater close control, more determined pressing, and the ability to create changes off his own back.

Having been handed 14 fewer starts than Wootton, Olaofe’s nine goals and three assists are promising numbers.

In short, neither have had a season deserving of being replaced at Edgeley Park.

Challinor will recognise ingredient lacking at Edgeley Park

However, as true as that may be, there is a clear deficiency in the Hatters’ squad that other promoted sides and play-off finalists have not suffered with.

Orient have Charlie Kelman on 21 goals in the regular season, Birmingham City have Jay Stansfield on 19 goals, Wrexham have Sam Smith on 18 goals and Charlton Athletic have Matty Godden also on 18 goals.

Each side still weighing up a Championship spot next term has a figurehead in attack who they have been able to rely on as their primary source of goals, whereas County’s goals have been much more spread out throughout the squad, especially since the end of Louie Barry’s loan spell.

Wootton and Olaofe may well not deserve to be axed, but evidence suggests the Hatters may be wise to look for that marksman in front of goal. Any recruit of that ilk is bound to reduce the minutes of the incumbent pair, something they may not be willing to accept.

Millwall may hold the solution

Macaulay Langstaff this time last year was one of the hottest properties in the EFL, after following his 41-goal season in the National League with a 28-goal effort in League Two with Notts County.

Millwall won the race, but things haven’t quite worked as planned, with the 28-year-old managing just a single goal in 34 outings, albeit just 14 of those were from the start.

League Two to the Championship may simply have been too big a jump, because Langstaff clearly knows where the net is, and may need the middle ground of League One to relocate his shooting boots.

If the Hatters could tempt Langstaff and get him firing again, it could be a shrewd signing to solve their goalscoring deficiency in the frontline.