Stockport County injury crisis is ending - Dave Challinor knows a turning point is close | OneFootball

Some key players could be returning to Stockport County’s squad over the next month

Having been one of League One’s strongest teams throughout the start of the 2025/26 season, Stockport County’s form has been decidedly patchy of late.

The Hatters’ last league victory came against Port Vale at the end of October, albeit a convincing 3-0 win away at Vale Park.

But since then, it is Dave Challinor’s side who have been more likely to be on the receiving end of a trio of goals, first against Luton Town and then against a struggling Peterborough United side, before salvaging a point against Barnsley most recently.

The County boss will no doubt be against using injuries as an excuse for the rocky record, but his team selection against the Tykes shows it is a live issue, and one that has an end in sight.

Stockport County have been dealing with injuries to key players all season

That County were heading for an injury-affected season perhaps should have been evident as early as pre-season, when captain and midfield tempo-controller Lewis Bate was ruled out for a length spell with an injured meniscus, which required surgery.

The searing form and extensive experience of ex-Premier League man Ollie Norwood provide plenty of cover for Bate’s absence, with the former Sheffield United man providing four goals and four assists in the third tier.

But then disaster struck again, when he picked up an injury in training that required emergency surgery and saw him require a two-month recovery period from the start of November.

Even Ben Osborn, who had been brought in on loan from Derby County to provide cover in the middle of the park, was struck with a lay-off of over a month, as was Tyler Onyango, who has played a wider role at times under Challinor but is a midfielder by trade.

And they are just the injuries centred in midfield areas, with plenty of other setbacks, to the likes of Arttu Hoskonen, Tayo Edun and Brad Hills also disrupting the defence.

Nevertheless, it feels like absences in midfield have been Challinor’s biggest obstacles.

Dave Challinor’s conundrum was clear to see against Barnsley

Not only has it made the Hatters less solid in the centre, but it has also reduced the creativity in the middle of the park.

Odin Bailey and Owen Moxon have been enlisted to fill the gaps, the former in particular impressing despite some early-season doubts about his suitability for the level, but both would struggle for starts with everyone fit due to the quality elsewhere in the squad.

It seemed an issue that Challinor tried to combat in his last league outing against Barnsley, deploying three natural no.9s in Kyle Wootton, Nathan Lowe and Benony Andresson, in an attempt to try and bypass the midfield and give defenders three targets to aim at, and also to cause problems from set-pieces.

It wasn’t an ideal solution, and didn’t really come off, with Andresson withdrawn at half-time, but it illustrates the lengths Challinor is having to go to try and combat the issue.

Injury problems at Stockport County should soon be resolved

Thankfully for the Hatters, however, the situation should soon be improving.

Bate has been pictured back on the grass in training, which, as the cliché goes, will almost feel like a new signing, given County have had to manage without their captain all season so far, a key voice in the dressing room.

Challinor said in August that Bate was due back in the New Year, with his training images suggesting he is on the right timeline.

Journalist Sam Byrne released an approximate timeline for County’s current injury list partway through November, which suggested that Norwood would be somewhere between mid-December and New Year.

Add that to Osborn making his return against the Tykes, and the Hatters’ midfield is finally starting to take shape again.

Having started the season so strongly, the injury crisis, focused heavily on the midfield, has been a clear issue for Challinor, but unfortunately for the rest of League One, it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel at Edgeley Park.