Stockport aim to see off Wrexham and seal promotion as they plot seven-year Championship project

Back in the 2004-05 season both Stockport County and Wrexham were plying their trade in the third tier of English football.

Not long after both found themselves in non-league, as two uninterrupted stays in the EFL totalling 193 years came crashing to an end. Poor decisions on and off the field resulted in both sinking. The intervening years have not been kind to either.

Wrexham have pottered about in the fifth tier for more than a dozen years, whilst County did sink as low as the National League North before finally escaping in 2019. But both are firmly back on the way up now. They have grand ambitions not just to re-enter the Football League and survive, but thrive.

Stockport travel to the Racecourse on Sunday knowing that a 29th win of the campaign will clinch a return to League Two for the first time since 2011.

Even a draw would preserve a healthy three-point buffer over Wrexham with a game in hand on the Hollywood-owned Dragons. Whilst the Welsh side have won plenty of headlines after their takeover by A-list duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Stockport also have fresh ownership that has paved the way for brighter days.

Local businessman Mark Stott purchased the club in January 2020 with a detailed plan that targeted a Championship return - a division Stockport last played in 20 years ago - within seven years.

The whole behind-the-scenes operation at Edgeley Park was revamped as well a gradual upgrade of the playing squad. It has reaped the rewards so far, and the fact that they were able to entice Dave Challinor to take up the manager role despite bossing League Two side Hartlepool says plenty about the appeal of the project.

County's director of football Simon Wilson recently told the Guardian : "We