Stockport County: Dave Challinor solution can help avoid repeat of Louie Barry nightmare - View | OneFootball

Stockport County: Dave Challinor solution can help avoid repeat of Louie Barry nightmare - View | OneFootball

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·10 October 2024

Stockport County: Dave Challinor solution can help avoid repeat of Louie Barry nightmare - View

Article image:Stockport County: Dave Challinor solution can help avoid repeat of Louie Barry nightmare - View

Hatters fans are itching to see more of their new man

Stockport County's summer transfer business saw the arrival of strong talent out wide, including a second loan spell for Aston Villa's Louie Barry.


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The return of Barry meant that the Hatters had him, plus Jack Diamond and Jayden Fevrier, fighting for two spaces in the XI, and so far it is the latter who has missed out.

County fans have been left pining for more of the former Colchester United man, who already has a goal and an assist despite only making two league starts, but couldn't get off the bench against Wigan Athletic.

Dave Challinor utilising him more may bring better short-term results, but could also prevent a repeat of Barry's painful absence last season.

Fevrier unlucky to get no minutes against Wigan

Article image:Stockport County: Dave Challinor solution can help avoid repeat of Louie Barry nightmare - View

Against a stubborn defence like Wigan, tiring in the latter stages of the game, it looked like a perfect time to deploy a player like Fevrier, but he didn't make it off the bench.

He has already proven exactly what he can do in these types of scenarios, in a recent game against Barnsley, when he was introduced in the 75th minute and played a crucial role in creating Barry's memorable stoppage-time equaliser.

Barnsley were camped in deep in that moment, much like Wigan for a good portion of the game, so Fevrier felt like a natural weapon to call upon but he was left waiting by Challinor.

We'll never know if he could have created the one moment County needed to take all three points, but we have already seen he's capable, and it's for that reason many fans wanted to see what he could do.

Fevrier has had fewer chances to get a rhythm going

Although he was brought into the starting line-up instead of Barry in the win against Shrewsbury Town, Fevrier's game time compared to the Villa man and Diamond has been limited.

This is despite him looking just as productive on the pitch.

None of the trio deserve to be left out of the squad, but if Challinor can find a way to rotate them more readily in the XI and utilise the spare man off the bench more in games, then it could avoid the frustrating situation last season with Barry, who spent much of the campaign out injured.

Greater rotation reduces this risk, and although Challinor seems to have this on his mind based on his Shrewsbury selection, a greater focus may be needed to prevent a repeat.

Ultimately, the call rests with the manager

Although fans naturally want to see more of an exciting player like Fevrier, it is Challinor who sees his work on a daily basis and is in charge of managing his expectations over minutes.

There may be reasons the other two widemen are preferred; the manager may want to introduce a young player — still just 21 years old — slowly, or Diamond and Barry may just be winning the competition on the training pitch.

What is clear, however, and has already been shown by Fevrier in instances like the Barnsley game, is that he can be a game-changer, and he looks like creating something every time he's on the pitch.

Challinor may want to make the most of that in the coming weeks — County already have two rescheduled fixtures to deal with.

Fevrier is worthy of a start in his own right, but allowing for the rest of players like Barry and Diamond makes him even more attractive. The County boss must surely be eyeing him up for greater involvement than he managed against Wigan in the Hatters' upcoming games.

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