Stockport County must play to key player's strengths to avoid Leyton Orient repeat: View | OneFootball

He may have held some answers for the Hatters if he'd been brought into the game more

Stockport County suffered their first blow of the new campaign when Leyton Orient visited Edgeley Park.

A difficult performance from the Hatters saw Orient run out 4-1 winners, despite the two clubs operating at opposite ends of the table.

County’s persistence in playing out from the back drew particular criticism in the stands.

There’s a clear second route for Dave Challinor’s side to take on the pitch; a lesson that must be learnt from this game.

The style was clear but it became too predictable

It is no secret that Challinor likes his defensive line to be comfortable on the ball and able to play out from the back.

That is one of the key reasons the club recruited goalkeeper Corey Addai from Crawley Town in the summer, a gloveman renowned for his calmness on the ball and accurate distribution.

The system to build out from the back, putting Addai’s traits to full use, has been clear from the start of the season and was brought back out against Orient.

But this can run into difficulties when facing a tireless team like Orient, whose persistent press the Hatters struggled to play around for large parts of the game.

Despite those struggles, Challinor’s side rarely looked for a backup plan.

County need to utilise what they have in Kyle Wootton

While this tactic clearly makes the most of the talent County have added to the squad in Addai, an alternative route was staring them in the face in the frontline.

Kyle Wootton is the archetypal target man, ready to get his hands dirty, battling for balls against physical defenders, holding up possession, and bringing others into play.

With the recruitment of specialist wingers in Jack Diamond, Jayden Fevrier and Louie Barry, this job became even easier for Wootton, and the towering forward has started the season well with those widemen around him.

But there seemed to be a reluctance to use Wootton as an out ball, perhaps not wanting to slip into a ‘route one’ outlook.

However, when facing a press that was proving difficult to intricately play around, sometimes a new approach is needed, and sometimes it needs to be about what proves most effective, rather than what looks the nicest.

Hatters must fix it for the next game, or risk Orient being the blueprint for opponents

There is no saying a team with County’s ambitions needs to start playing long every game, but they will need to build some adaptability into their game to avoid being found out as they were against Orient.

If teams work out that they can neutralise County’s ability on the ball with determined and consistent pressing from their frontline, then that predictability could prove costly.

Wootton has started the season well, and has a top-quality supporting cast of wingers around him now, so having him there as an alternative plan seems sensible.