Stockport County: Underrated Corey Addai feat v Charlton & Bolton deserves more hype | OneFootball

It hasn’t been the easiest start to life at Stockport County for the goalkeeper, but he’s put in some assured performances recently

Corey Addai did not make a dream start to his Stockport County career.

He was signed from fellow promotion winners Crawley Town in the summer and handed a three-year deal, with the remit to eventually succeed Hatters legend Ben Hinchliffe between the sticks.

But a string of tough outings saw Addai substituted at half-time in October against Lincoln City, before being usurped completely by Hinchliffe in November after a damaging 5-0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers.

With the veteran goalkeeper now injured, Addai has had a free shot at redemption, and he’s taken it with both hands, keeping clean sheets against both Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, while remaining somewhat under the radar.

Two quietly assured performances for Addai

With a 0-0 draw against Charlton and a narrow 1-0 victory against Bolton, the Hatters put together two performances that left little to write home about, save for Tanto Olaofe’s wonder solo goal at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

But one element that may have received less attention than is deserved is the back-to-back shut-outs achieved by Addai.

While it’s true that the Addicks only gave the towering goalkeeper one save to make, the Trotters posed more of a threat, forcing Addai into three saves and leaving him with a FotMob rating of 8.1, the highest of any player on the pitch.

But it’s Addai’s subtler actions that are also improving with his increasing exposure to League One minutes.

Having made a strong one-on-one stop to deny Aaron Collins not long before, Bolton earned a corner from another attack in the dying seconds of the game.

Josh Sheehan swung it into a crowded box and, in a moment that would in another game produce a nail-biting conclusion, Addai used steely aggression to shunt aside his marker, striding forward to calmly claim the ball inside a crowded six-yard box, falling to the ground as the referee blew his final whistle.

It’s not an action likely to be clipped up for social media, but it’s the sort of intervention that can prove the difference between one and three points in vital moments. Such command of his area is a strong signal Addai’s confidence is growing back.

Clean sheets key for Addai’s confidence

Addai making his improvements somewhat away from the spotlight is probably the best-case scenario for the 27-year-old.

Being dropped as a goalkeeper does, of course, add a lot of pressure to their return outing, and that was evident in Addai in his first couple of times back at Edgeley Park, in front of the Cheadle End.

With that in mind, right now, the less he’s being spoken about, the better.

But back-to-back clean sheets, and his mentality to bounce back from such a setback in a new environment, is certainly deserving of praise – not everyone would be capable.

And it’s a great sign for County. If they can keep his confidence and performance levels steadily rising, they have a player tailor-made for the sort of football that manager Dave Challinor wants to play.

If Addai can keep up this consistency, he’ll be vital for how Challinor wants to play

Challinor likes his defenders to be comfortable on the ball, so his team can build out from the back.

With the signing of Addai – renowned at Crawley for almost playing as an extra defender in build-up – it seems this philosophy also extends to goalkeepers.

And even in his moments most lacking confidence, Addai has never lacked a spark in this department.

His confidence on the ball persuades opposition sides pretty quickly that intense pressing of the gloveman is futile. That gives him more time on the ball to pick out the right pass, and his fellow teammates an extra few seconds to work the space ahead of him – vital seconds that could make or break a potential attack.

If he can build consistency into his shot-stopping game, as he appears to be doing with the Charlton and Bolton games, then County will have something approaching the full package on their hands.

Addai has made a great start in quietly turning the tide of opinion in his two most recent clean-sheet outings – a result in a big test against Wrexham this weekend would only strengthen those foundations.