Stockport County v Crewe Alex 25-26 League Cup Preview - Rotate?

I'll say this for Lee Bell, he takes the cup competitions seriously. Well, not the EFL Trophy, but then that competition is a joke, so I don't care. But when it comes to the league cup, he's played it pretty straight and gone strong. So I'll be curious to see if he does the same here. This is a local trip, but you'd imagine his focus will be on the Crawley game on Saturday and Fleetwood the following Tuesday. So what does he do here I wonder? Rotate, give the likes of Tezgel, Finney, Powell and Moult more game time? Or throw out the same team for the 3rd game in a row to keep building chemistry and momentum? It's a tough one. Here is my preview of the visit to Edgeley Park:

Out, In, Out, In

The Alex have an incredible run going where by they alternate getting through round 1 in 1 season, then go straight out the next. I mentioned this in my preview of their game with Rotherham 12 months ago, but they haven't made it into the 2nd round in back to back seasons since 03-04 and 04-05. After beating Sunderland in 23-24 and then losing to Rotherham last season, that means they are due to progress this season. I hope.

Penalties

I know a lot of fans probably hated the move to scrap extra time in this competition. But to me, I prefer it. Why? Because I think it gives the weaker teams a better chance at progression. Previously, if you were able to hold a team to a draw over the 90 minutes, you then knew you had to dig in for an extra 30. That's tough and it usually meant the higher placed team was able to bring on better players and eventually overpower their opponent.

For the Alex, they know that all they need to do is get a draw and then take their chances at penalties, which given they've won 3 of their last 4 shootouts in senior competitions, gives them fair odds at progressing.

Reward

Whilst getting a run in the FA Cup is the priority, a small run in this competition wouldn't be bad either as the rewards are huge for just a single win. Some of their 2nd round draws in the past have been Blackburn, Aston Villa and Leeds(plus Port Vale, but forget that one).

Should they get past Stockport, potential opponents are Everton, Manchester United, Stoke, West Brom or Birmingham. The potential prize for getting into the next round is huge. I'd really love it if they could do it.

Weak?

I talked up Lee Bell and his willingness to give this competition a go. Well, I'm not sure the same can be said for his opposite number in this game Dave Challinor. Last season Challinor named a massively understrength team for their 1st round tie against Blackburn and a 6-1 hammering was the result. If he feels like doing the same again in this game, I wouldn't say no.

He might be tempted to as well, for 2 reasons. One, his side are already dealing with a number of injuries. 6 players missed Saturday's trip to Wycombe and Challinor might not want to risk more first teamers to injury with his options already depleted to the point they had to sign veteran Danny Andrew on a 1 month deal a few weeks ago.

The 2nd reason is that they have just come back from that aforementioned trip to Wycombe, a round trip of 360 miles. They then have to travel to Plymouth, a 560 mile round trip which likely involves travelling down on Friday. With 2 long games to factor in, does Challinor leave his big names to rest and throw in a lot of academy players I wonder?

Ref Watch

Scott Jackson

The Alex get the old disciplinarian himself. If you aren't familiar with Jackson, you should be. He's quick to whip out his cards, averaging 4.5 yellows per game last season. He was all over the Alex in 23-24, showing 11 yellows across 2 games. Then last season, he produced a further 4. The Alex need to be on their best behaviour.

2025-26 Record: 1 game(1 League Two), 2 yellows

Last Game: Grimsby Town 3-0 Crawley Town, 2nd August 2025, EFL League Two, 2 yellows

Last Alex Game: Crewe Alex 4-1 Bromley, 5th January 2025, EFL League Two, 2 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Stockport County

County have a big and deep squad, so some of these absences could be selection based and not injury, but on Saturday, they were missing captain Lewis Bate, Arttu Hoskonen, Jayden Fevrier, Tayo Edun, Jay Mingi and Benoný Breki Andrésson. Don't count on seeing Nick Powell either, as he's been told he's surplus to requirements and not even handed a squad number.

Crewe Alex

Same as usual I'm hoping, with the now well known missing 4 attackers being their only absences.

Team

Part of me wants them to go strong, give it a real go and maybe sneak through. Part of my wants them to rotate a bit and prioritise the league. I don't envy Lee Bell in his decision.

Personally, I'm rotating a bit. I'm resting Thomas due to his injury history, Demetriou due to him not being able to play every week and me wanting him fit and fresh for the Crawley and then Fleetwood games, March due to the sheer amount of running he's done and Hutchinson for similar reasons to Demetriou.

In their places come Moult, Tezgel, Finney and Golding. Moult goes upfront with Tezgel in behind, Finney slots in at LB and Golding comes into defence.

Score Prediction

If Stockport go really weak and name a team of kids, then I think the Alex have got a chance. But if they fancy their chances at progression and only partially rotate, they should have enough quality and depth to beat the Alex. It's a game I won't be bothered about losing and at this point, I'm not too confident about seeing the Alex progress. Just avoid any injuries and don't get battered, everything else after that would be a bonus.

Stockport County 2-0 Crewe Alexandra