The sacrifice Dave Challinor must make at Stockport County; Man Utd player could be the answer | OneFootball

Stockport County fell to a 3-1 home defeat against Crewe Alexandra in their midweek League Two bout, in a game that saw full-backs deployed in central defensive areas to account for an injury crisis in the Hatters' backline.

Edgeley Park will not be going into panic mode just yet, having retained their place at the summit of England's fourth tier, still looking like promotion favourites this season and this being their first loss since a 2-0 defeat against Mansfield Town at home.

However, it was a bruising defeat for the Hatters, allowing third-placed Crewe to close the gap to just three points, with others around the top of the table also drawing closer to Dave Challinor's side.

A cross and the failure to clear two set-pieces were the eventual undoing of the Hatters on the night, leading to some speculation that the path to greater defensive security lies on the County bench.

Sticking to his favoured three-at-the-back formation, with wing-backs on either flank, Challinor had full-backs Lewis Cass and Ibou Touray on either side of traditional centre-back Fraser Horsfall, with Ethan Bristow and Connor Lemonheigh Evans dropping back for extra defensive cover out of possession, and bombing forward once it had been regained.

Though this is not the first time Challinor has deployed him in such a role, Touray in particular looks out of sorts when asked to carry out relentless defensive work as was required against the Railwaymen.

The 29-year-old won just three of his six aerial duels (50%), registering no headed clearances, compared to Horsfall who won 18 of his 22 aerial duels (82%) and registered eight headed clearances. Cass, who has played a mixture of centre-back and full-back under Challinor previously at Hartlepool United, had similar trouble to Touray, winning just two of his nine aerial battles (22%) and recording two headed clearances.

In a game that saw Crewe net three times, twice from County's failure to clear adequately from set-pieces and once from a header on the end of the cross, it stands to reason that a more traditional defender may be better versed in the capabilities that were required on the night.

A passing accuracy of 83%, the highest of any defender in the starting line-up, shows why Challinor selected Touray, as he likes his defenders to be comfortable on the ball and contribute to starting the attacking phase, but this game may leave him wondering whether the basics need a greater focus first whilst dealing with considerable defensive injuries.

Challinor may need to sacrifice favoured defensive creativity

The evident issues in the backline were castigated further by Hatters fans on account of there being two natural centre-backs on the County bench that night.

Both Neill Byrne and Rhys Bennett, on loan from Manchester United but yet to feature in a County shirt, were left out of the side in favour of Touray, despite both being more naturally suited to playing in that position.

Byrne did eventually get onto the pitch, in place of Ethan Bristow with Touray then shifting out into his more natural role, in a move that suggests Challinor had recognised the issue mid-game.

Bennett, standing at six feet and one inch, is also likely to cut a more imposing figure in the core defensive unit than Touray did, and, with a focus on playing out from the back in the United academy, should be comfortable progressing the ball forward as required by Challinor.

There may be unpublicised reasons for Bennett's delay in getting on the pitch for County, but making it to the bench for this week's game suggests he is ready to play, and the manager may now feel that the time is right to give him an opportunity.

Whichever of the pair proves more appealing to Challinor, on account of his defensive switch early in the second half, it seems likely that he will be searching for a different answer to his defensive conundrum this weekend.

Another substantial injury means new back-up plan needed

If this setup had been intended to cover for a one-off absence, then it would have been written off as a failed experiment and, with County still sitting in an advantageous position at the top of the table, it'd be back to business as usual the next time out.

However, it was revealed after the game by journalist Sam Byrne that the injured player necessitating the change, Akil Wright, already covering injuries to Kyle Knoyle and Ethan Pye himself, is going to be out for between six and eight weeks, at a time in the season when playing twice a week is commonplace.

Injuries have plagued the Hatters' throughout this season, and it is a credit to Challinor and his players that together they have managed to navigate setbacks each time and still find themselves at the summit of League Two, but the County boss will need to get his thinking hat on once more as he looks for a route out of this particular availability crisis.

Whether that means switching to a back four, as he did throughout County's winning streak earlier in the season, or utilising more traditional defenders in his back three rather than trying to mould full-backs like Touray into the role, remains to be seen.