The Hatters

At first glance, it looks like Stockport have found their shooting boots, hitting Brighton for FOUR away from home last week. But the truth is, The Seagulls were reduced to NINE PLAYERS, and County still needed a penalty and late strike to take all three points.

Stockport have lost both games at home this season, 0-2 against Bristol Rovers, and 1-2 against Carlisle. Their other away fixture was a 0-0 draw at Oldham.

It's noticeable though, that The Hatters are not prolific creators. They had just 2 attempts on target against Oldham, and only managed 3 against Bristol Rovers. Even winning 4-2 at Brighton against NINE, they only managed 5 on target ( one of them a spot kick ).

Saints are making better progress going forward, with 15 attempts on goal against Brentford, 8 on target.

But the worrying thing is, even with new additions Trotman and Hammond, Saints still aren't NEARLY compact enough defensively. The Bees had 12 efforts on goal!

Perhaps a few training sessions without a keeper between the sticks will sharpen them up in and around their own danger zone. There is far too much reliance on Super Kelvin Davis!
If they train without keepers it would certainly wake them all up to their defensive responsibilities. Pardew can black mark players that allow opponents to get a shot off, and / or assist.
I recommend they do this for 90 minutes!

Questions

Can Saints take advantage of a defence that has allowed Bristol Rovers 12, Oldham 14 and even Brighton 14 attempts on goal.

If so, can they also improve upon their defensive record against a side that has so far shown little creativity up front.