Preview:Stockport County vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s - prediction, team news, lineups

Both looking to commence their EFL Trophy campaigns with a positive result, Stockport County and Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s clash at Edgeley Park on Tuesday night.

The Hatters have stumbled in League One recently following a stellar start to the campaign, whilst Wolves are flying high in Premier League 2 so far this term.

Match preview

Plying their trade in the National League as recently as 2022, Stockport County have enjoyed a marvellous rise to the third tier of English football over the past three years, with Tuesday night's hosts almost escaping the stresses of the EFL Trophy all together last season.

The Hatters placed third in League One and were 270 minutes away from promotion to the Championship, but the Greater Manchester club suffered a shock defeat in the playoff semi-finals to Leyton Orient, who were helped by the goalscoring talents of Charlie Kelman.

Stockport showcased no signs of a hangover from last term's sobering ending at the very beginning of 2025-26 - winning three straight matches across League One and the EFL Cup - but the hosts have since won just one of their last five competitive games.

Dave Challinor's men continued their inconsistent run of form on Saturday afternoon at The Brick Community Stadium, where a Wigan Athletic strike from Christian Saydee forced a share of the third-tier spoils following Jayden Fevrier's early opener.

Providing the assist for the 22-year-old's first goal of the campaign in the fourth minute versus the Latics, attacker Kyle Wootton has enjoyed an eye-catching start to the season for Stockport, scoring twice and managing three assists across six League One battles.

One of the 16 academy sides in this season's edition of the EFL Trophy, Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s will be aiming to improve on their performance in this competition during 2024-25, when they bowed out at the group stage after collecting just a single point from three matches.

Early-season signs point towards a change in fortunes for the Black Country outfit, though, with Tuesday night's visitors to Edgeley Park commencing their Premier League 2 campaign with a three-game unbeaten streak to sit them third in the standings, behind only Chelsea Under-21s and Leicester City Under-21s.

Helping his teammates secure seven points from their opening three matches, Tom Edozie has arguably been the pick of the Wolves bunch so far this season, with the 19-year-old scoring two goals, including a strike off the bench in the 3-1 success over Blackburn Rovers Under-21s on Friday evening.

James Collins's troops have suffered just the single competitive defeat to date this term, although that result did arrive in their only game against senior opposition on August 12, when goals from Sakariya Hassan and Nathan Tshikuna secured a 2-1 win for fifth-tier Wealdstone in the National League Cup.

The young Wolves are currently on a five-game winless run in the EFL Trophy, with their most recent triumph in the competition coming all the way back in September 2023, when strikes from Owen Hesketh and Nathan Fraser sealed victory over League Two Notts County.

Stockport County form (all competitions):

W D L W L D

Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s form (all competitions):

L W D W

Team News

Taken off after 59 minutes at Wigan on the weekend, Stockport summer signing Malik Mothersille could build up more match fitness against Wolves on Tuesday night.

Following a hectic start to the campaign, Challinor could opt to make some alterations to his Hatters XI, allowing Lewis Fiorini and Corey O'Keefe spots in the side.

Into his 10th season as a Stockport player, second-choice goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe should start ahead of Corey Addai at Edgeley Park.

Wolves remain without the services of 19-year-old attacker Leon Chiwome, who suffered a serious knee injury back in January.

The visitors are likely to deploy a 3-4-3 formation in Greater Manchester, with Alfie Pond at the centre of the defensive trio.

Stockport County possible starting lineup:

Hinchliffe; Hills, Connolly, Pye; Fevrier, Moxon, Norwood, Andrew; Mothersille, Fiorini, Andersson

Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s possible starting lineup:

Gracey; Ojinnaka, Pond, Olagunju; Lima, Griffiths, Bradbury, Lembikisa; Mane, Chirewa, Angel

We say: Stockport County 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s

A contender for promotion in League One this season, Stockport should have no issues blitzing past a young Wolves outfit this Tuesday night.

The Black Country side have enjoyed a successful start in Premier League 2 but are unlikely to pose the third-tier Hatters any serious issues at Edgeley Park.

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