Beyond the surface of chaotic apprehension synonymous with the build-up to a new season, Daryl McMahon will be composed, having likely already finalised his preparations for our eagerly-awaited trip to Stockport County. This will include the starting lineup, which can only be speculated by supporters until it is officially unveiled at approximately 2pm on Saturday. Below I've done just that, predicting what the XI will consist of.GK: ELLIOT JUSTHAM
Our ever-reliable keeper has spent six years at the club and committed himself to three more over the summer by signing a long-term deal. He'll be itching to get one over on the Stockport fanbase, whom he clashed with in February 2020 after over-zealously celebrating our last-second equaliser. LWB: MYLES WESTON Saunders is a little hard done by here, especially after impressing in pre-season, but I expect McMahon to use the more experienced option in Myles Weston, whose powerful and dynamic running can stretch the Stockport defence. We need players who can break the lines, and few in our squad are better at it than Weston. LCB: ELLIOTT JOHNSON Johnson was much better on the left side of a centre-half trio than as an out-an-out left back, so will almost certainly be continuing there. He provides stability and can play measured passes into midfield, as well as being competent in a one-on-one situation. CB: CALLUM REYNOLDS Likely to keep the place he regained at the back end of last season is Callum Reynolds, who played considerably more minutes in pre-season than the only other viable option Kenny Clark. He was error prone at times but improved vastly and performed very well when supporters returned against Wrexham. Hopefully that trend carries into the new campaign. RCB: WILL WRIGHT Another relative certainty in the lineup, Will Wright has potential at both ends of the pitch, having provided an impressive nine assists last season on top of his primary duties. Furthermore, he's a free-kick specialist, so offers a considerable amount to the team all-round. RWB: SAM LING The new arrival, back for a second spell at the club, featured in the right wing-back position throughout most of the pre-season fixtures he played, and will presumably start there for the real stuff too. He's also capable of bagging an assist, which he did on several occasions during his first stint. CM: MO SAGAF Cemented himself into the side at the back end of last season and looked strong in the recent warm-up matches too. Capable of a long-range strike, as was demonstrated in our most recent outing against fellow National League outfit Eastleigh. Like many, I'm looking forward to watch him forge a midfield partnership with Matt Robinson. CM: MATT ROBINSON His place was far from guaranteed for the first segment of last season, but certainly is now. The fans' favourite has signed a new deal at the club, meaning we'll hopefully be blessed with his surprise goalscoring exploits for many years to come. He'll be massive for us in every department. CAM: MAURO VILHETE Most will be expecting Balanta to play in the hole behind the two strikers, but I don't think the Colombian will start as he didn't play a minute of our final friendly (whereas everybody else besides Rance did). Vilhete has featured there a lot of late, performing impressively too, so could get the nod at Edgeley Park. ST: JOSH WALKER Walker has more than merited a starting berth with a series of impressive pre-season performances, in which he registered six goals and four assists. It's likely that one of Balanta/McCallum/Walker will have to miss out, but on this occasion I expect our new arrival to be given an instant debut. ST: PAUL MCCALLUM There's a big asterisk next to this one as last season's top scorer came off after 19 minutes, presumably injured, in our last pre-season match. When fit, though, McCallum will almost certainly be guaranteed a start, so it's a case of hoping he's ready to spearhead a potential play-off push.
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May 2024
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