Stockport County: Kyle Wootton and Corey Addai situations will be on Dave Challinor's mind | OneFootball

The Hatters boss will have these two selection issues at the front of his mind heading into the new season

Highlights

Promotion to League One has seen an overhaul of playing staff for Stockport County, with plenty of new faces arriving at Edgeley Park throughout the summer.

It's an exciting time to follow the Hatters, with supporters eagerly awaiting the dawn of the new season to see their fresh arrivals in action and assess how they fare in the third tier.

Strong recruitment means manager Dave Challinor finds himself in the enviable scenario of being spoilt for choice in a number of positions.

Here are two of the key selection headaches that the County boss is likely to already have in his mind as the new season approaches...

The Hatters pulled off something of a shock when they lured the starting goalkeeper from fellow promotion-winning side Crawley Town for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year deal on arrival.

That surprising news came just weeks after the club had announced a two-year contract extension for veteran shot-stopper Ben Hinchliffe.

At 26 years old, it is clear that Addai has not moved to Stockport as a back-up goalkeeper.

Hinchliffe, ten years Addai's senior, is already being considered by director of football Simon Wilson for a career at the club beyond his playing career, but the gloveman's recently-signed deal is a playing contract, and County have already proven this summer that they aren't sentimental in these matters.

On paper, it seems obvious that there will be a gradual changing of the guard between Hinchliffe and Addai, but this first season, in particular, will be interesting to see how the situation plays out, and will no doubt produce week after week of tough decisions for Challinor.

In Addai, he has a towering presence between the sticks who made waves last season for his abilities on the ball in high-pressure situations, contributing defensively alongside kick-starting attacks. In Hinchliffe, he has last season's League Two Golden Glove winner; an uber-professional goalkeeper who has come to the team's rescue countless times since joining in 2016, has an instinct for averting danger in big moments and is one of the most loved players in the club's history for precisely that.

It's set to be an exciting battle between the pair, and they will both no doubt get ample opportunity to make their case for taking the no.1 spot.

Kyle Wootton

Having faced a delayed start last term through injury, Kyle Wootton's haul of eight goals and seven assists in 32 League Two appearances is an impressive showing.

That factored in with the fact that he captained the side on a couple of occasions and has already racked up 61 third-tier outings earlier in his career should make him a shoo-in for starts next term.

He faces just two issues: Tanto Olaofe's 20 league goals and a potential shape change from Challinor.

The signing of two wingers - Jack Diamond and Jayden Fevrier - is a break from the tradition of not accommodating wingers in recent years and makes a front three, with one central striker, a likely option next season.

If the wide pair play on their natural sides, it could be crosses-galore for Wootton, who would undoubtedly thrive in such an environment. However, both men are capable of 'inverting' to play on the opposite wing, with a focus on cutting inside to play through balls and take shots, which could cancel out Wootton's best traits.

Last season saw Challinor regularly start with two strikers, meaning fewer instances for Olaofe and Wootton to battle each other for places, but if the manager does go for just one central striker, expect that competition to become much more frequent.