Stockport County v FC Halifax Town: Pete Wild out to poop promotion party
PETE WILD wants his FC Halifax Town side to enjoy themselves at packed out and expectant Edgeley Park tomorrow afternoon –before the real stuff begins as far as he is concerned.
Hosts Stockport require a point to seal their Football League return after an 11-year absence – with Wrexham waiting to pounce if County slip up – while the Shaymen will secure third place if they better Solihull Moors’ result at Boreham Wood.
Finishing third would see Halifax avoid a play-off eliminator and take them straight through to the semi-finals.
For his part, Wild is unconcerned where his side end up, but solely on seeing his players express themselves and produce a performance to put them in good heart ahead of the play-offs.
Wild, whose side will be backed by around 1,000 supporters, said: “We’re on 84 points, we’re joint-third on goal difference and the psychology is that 84 points would have won you the league last year, and we’re 19 points better off (than last season).
“So for me, and the players, it’s about making sure that we remember what we’ve done across the season and we don’t dwell on the fact that we’re third or we’re fourth. It is what it is.
“We know our two fates, we’re going to give it everything we can to finish third, but we are going to play with utter freedom, we’re not going to play with any shackles or with any worries.
“So we can go out knowing that it is not life and death, it is basically we play with no pressure and we’re going to go and express ourselves like a Halifax team should do.”
The lions’ share of the expectation will be firmly on the shoulders of County’s followers, with Halifax cast in the role of party-poopers, with no shortage of goodwill from North Wales either.
To pip Stockport to the title and promotion, Wrexham must win at Dagenham and hope Halifax do them an almighty favour by triumphing in Cheshire.
Wild added: “No fans, no players and no staff members should be turning up at Stockport on Sunday nervous.
“We’re going to go and play in-front of over 10,000; a sell-out, we should all be buzzing for that, knowing that regardless of the result, we’ve achieved what we set out to achieve and that was to get in the play-offs.
“So let’s go play with a smile on our face and let’s go there and give it everything we have got, knowing that there is no ramifications or repercussions from the result there.”