Rochdale are in for a tough afternoon against an in-form Stockport County side who are in the hunt for their next victim.

The Dale have had a tough campaign so far and are in a battle for survival at the wrong end of League Two. Jim Bentley’s side were thumped 4-1 at home by Harrogate Town last weekend, despite taking the lead early on through midfielder James Ball, and that was a damaging result for the North-West club.

It leaves them above the bottom two by a single point and their boss said afterwards that it was a ‘drubbing’ for his players and that will worry him ahead of another tricky encounter this weekend. On the selection front, Rochdale have full-back Aidy White back from injury and will carefully integrate him back into the starting XI, with Cameron John taking his place at the moment.

However, the whole defence needs to be addressed after their most recent showing. The club has won just four out of their opening 20 outings this term and will be nervously looking over their shoulder towards the National League during the second-half of this campaign. Recent form hasn’t been kind to Rochdale and they have won just once in their last seven league matches so won’t be holding out much hope of that changing anytime soon.

Stockport breezed past Hartlepool United 5-0 away last time out in the league courtesy of goals from Kyle Wootton (x2), Paddy Madden, Callum Camps and Will Collar so their confidence will be sky high. They then beat Charlton Athletic 3-1 in their FA Cup second round replay on Wednesday with midfielder Will Collar bagging a hat-trick and manager Dave Challinor said they were ‘excellent’.

The Hatters have a clean bill of health ahead of their short trip to Spotland and have brought players such as goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe and right-back Macauley Southam-Hales back into the starting XI for Vit Jaros and James Brown respectively over recent times and that has helped them see an upturn in results.

Stockport are on a roll at the moment and have risen up to 12th in the table, just five points off the play-offs now, and will be excited for the remainder of the season. They have lost just twice in their last 10 league outings and are proving to be a tough team to beat at the moment so should have no issue in getting another win under their belts against lowly Rochdale.

Sutton United will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways this weekend against struggling Colchester United.

The U’s have picked up a couple of decent results over the past couple of weeks and look to be back on track now. They beat Rochdale 1-0 at home in their last home game before picking up a useful 1-1 draw away at Carlisle United last time out, with Will Randall scoring for them in both games.

Speaking after getting a point in Cumbria, boss Matt Gray said they put in a ‘really dominant’ performance which is impressive considering their opponents are in the play-offs. If they can do that again against Colchester they should have no problems getting a win.

In terms of injury news, Sutton have received a big boost on the injury front with midfielder Ali Smith back from two months out with an ankle problem. He gives Gray another option to pick from in the middle of the park and provides competition to the likes of Craig Eastmond and Adam Lovatt which is useful heading into the festive period.

The London club are strong at home and have only lost three out of their opening 10 home games so far this season which shows they are a tough team to play against at Gander Green Lane. Based on their past two performances, Sutton should pick up another result on Saturday.

Colchester have struggled so far this term and find themselves down in 22nd position in the League Two table. They lost 2-1 away at Mansfield Town last time out, with attacker Alex Newby getting their goal, and are now only above the relegation zone on goal difference. Their manager Matt Bloomfield said he was ‘so disappointed’ with the result and that won’t do his team’s confidence any good as they prepare for another tough away trip.

The Essex outfit have striker Kwesi Appiah back after two months on the sidelines and he provides an alternative option in attack up top to players such as Samson Tovide, Frank Nouble and Freddie Sears. However, they will need more than him if they are to turn their fortunes around and their lack of goals has been a serious issue over recent times, finding the net just 12 times in 20 games.

Colchester also leak them at the other end and have conceded 28 times, hence their lowly position in the table. They have won just three out of their first 20 matches and haven’t won away in this campaign in a run spanning back 10 fixtures so won’t be holding out much hope of putting that right anytime soon.

Swindon’s hopes of a play-off push have taken a dent recently. Back-to-back defeats against Crewe Alexandra and Crawley Town followed a comeback 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers. Scott Lindsey will hope that the return of the influential Jonny Williams from the FIFA World Cup will turn things around. The 29-year-old is certainly an upgrade in left-wing quality from Ellis Iandolo who most recently played there, and will better complement central striker Luke Jephcott and right winger Jacob Wakeling.

Williams’ return could enable Iandolo to be deployed back in a more comfortable left-back or central midfield position, providing technical quality in possession that matches that of Louis Reed and Ben Gladwin. Saidou Khan continues to be an impressive, tenacious midfielder, but inconsistent fitness in the centre-back position has not been ideal for the Robins. Ciaran Brennan and Tom Clayton were the most recent partnership, Angus MacDonald still unavailable and Mathieu Baudry coming back into the first time frame after a period out.

Opponents AFC Wimbledon are enjoying form that fans have been waiting a very long time to see. A 1-0 home win over Grimsby Town last weekend extended their unbeaten run in League Two to seven games, picking up 17 points from a possible 21 in that time. Johnnie Jackson’s switch to a 4-2-3-1 is proving a very effective one.

Josh Davison operates as the focal point of the frontline, Ayoub Assal and Ethan Chislett based out wide and combative midfielder Harry Pell taking up an advanced role behind Davison. Alex Woodyard’s return to full fitness has allowed him to provide excellent support at the base of midfield beside Brentford loanee Paris Maghoma.

AFC Wimbledon will welcome the return of experienced right-back Chris Gunter from the World Cup to start ahead of the much younger Isaac Ogundere and Huseyin Biler. Jack Currie has proved to be a breakout star this season for Wimbledon with impressive, dynamic performances at either left-back or left-wing-back.

Two Wales players should return to club duty this weekend, and whilst Swindon’s Welsh International carries a much stronger influence over his side, it is Wimbledon’s Chris Gunter who returns to the more confident team.

Johnnie Jackson’s 4-2-3-1 has got the Dons into a good run of form, and into a team that have beaten league leaders Leyton Orient and Swindon’s closest rival in the table in Salford City. The London outfit should have every belief they can claim at least a point at the County Ground this weekend as well.