Dave Challinor wants his Stockport side to target the League Two title after they moved to the verge of promotion with a 2-1 victory at Colchester.
Paddy Madden netted the Hatters’ second-half winner after Cameron McGeehan had cancelled out Nick Powell’s opener for the leaders.
Stockport boss Challinor said: “I’m still going to be the boring fellow who’ll say ‘you’ve worked so hard to get to this situation’ and when we do get promoted, we want to go up as champions.
“That’s still an objective and we need two wins to be able to do that.
“So if we are going to enjoy it, let’s make sure we enjoy it properly and put everything we can into the next 10 days or however long it may be and have a proper celebration.
“Colchester are scrapping for their lives and we weren’t great.
“We knew it would be a physical battle with the front two.
“Am I surprised that they get chances from set-pieces and from putting the ball into the box? No absolutely not but we dug in.
“It is the sign of a good team that we can not play very well but still win.”
Stockport took a 31st-minute lead when Powell’s hopeful effort from nearly 25 yards inexplicably squirmed under goalkeeper Owen Goodman and in, from Antoni Sarcevic’s short corner.
But Colchester equalised in first-half stoppage-time through McGeehan, who side-footed home Arthur Read’s corner.
Stockport bagged their winner on the hour mark when Madden converted from two yards after Connor Lemonheigh-Evans had cut Ethan Bristow’s cross back into his path.
Colchester had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 67th minute but Hinchliffe saved McGeehan’s penalty, after Tom Hooper had been fouled by Ethan Pye in the area.
Colchester boss Danny Cowley said: “The ball hasn’t quite rolled for us tonight.
“We’ve taken the best team in the league by a significant distance all the way and given them a really good game and arguably been the better team in the second half.
“But you can’t legislate for the two moments that happened.
“They do happen – there’s no recriminations, there’s no individual blame, it’s always a collective effort.
“I was proud of the team today, I was proud of the response that we showed after Saturday (against Wrexham) when we were really disappointed with ourselves.
“We beat ourselves in the last half hour in that game but tonight we showed resilience and determination.
“It was a really difficult moment for the team after conceding the first goal and you can easily go under in that situation but we didn’t and we responded really well.
“I’m really disappointed that we haven’t taken any points.”
Martinez back in Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers
Emiliano Martinez has been recalled by Argentina for this month's World Cup qualifiers versus Paraguay and Peru after serving a two-match suspension.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper sat out a 1-1 draw with Venezuela and a 6-0 rout of Bolivia in October after being banned for "offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play" by CONMEBOL.
Martinez had made a lewd gesture with the Copa America trophy ahead of a match against Chile in September, then hit a local television camera after a loss to Colombia.
Valencia midfielder Enzo Barrenechea has been handed his maiden call-up by Lionel Scaloni, while Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho and Leicester City's Facundo Buonanotte have also been recalled.
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi will lead the world champions – who are top of the CONMEBOL qualification group with 22 points – in Paraguay on November 14, before they host Peru five days later.
Argentina squad: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Walter Benitez (PSV), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Nehuen Perez (Porto), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Enzo Barrenechea (Valencia), Thiago Almada (Botafogo), Facundo Buonanotte (Leicester City), Nicolas Paz (Como), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Juventus), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Valentin Castellanos (Lazio).
Al-Nassr 5-1 Al-Ain: Ronaldo on target in AFC Champions League win
Cristiano Ronaldo powered Al-Nassr to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Asian Champions League Elite holders Al-Ain on Tuesday.
The victory carried a sense of redemption for Al-Nassr as they avenged last season's semi-final defeat to the same opposition on their way to lifting a second title in the competition.
Talisca fired the hosts into a fifth minute lead with a well-taken effort from the edge of the box before Ronaldo poked home his 908th career goal just after the half-hour mark.
Visiting defender Fabio Cardoso then deflected Angelo's effort beyond Khalid Eisa to hand Al-Nassr a comfortable advantage at the interval.
Al-Ain did, however, pull one back early in the second half when Park Yong-woo's strike struck the post and went in off the back of Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
But the result was put beyond doubt late on when Wesley curled home Al-Nassr's fourth, before Talisca notched his brace in second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Return of Ronaldo
After winning five Champions League across his glittering career, Ronaldo is now eyeing a first AFC Champions League crown with Al-Nassr.
The 39-year-old has six goals in eight appearances in the competition, with his goal against Al-Ain ending a three-game goal drought for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo also registered a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.25 towards Al-Nassr's 2.67 total, while also producing more shots (eight) and touches in the opposition box (nine) than any other player on the pitch.
Slovan Bratislava 1-4 Dinamo Zagreb: Slovakian side still searching for first Champions League point
Dinamo Zagreb came back from a goal down to cruise to a 4-1 victory away to Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The home side scored just their second goal of the league stage to go ahead after just five minutes through forward David Strelec.
But their lead was short-lived, with Dinamo getting back on level terms just five minutes later after Dario Spikic cut inside and slotted into the near post after carrying the ball into the box.
The visitors were ahead after the half-hour mark as Petar Sucic headed Marko Pjaca's cross home.
They extended their lead in the 54th minute after Sandro Kulenovic tapped in from close range to finish off a lovely flowing move. But neither he, nor his side, were done there.
A fourth arrived in the 72nd minute, with Kulenovic curling home an effort from the edge of the penalty area.
The result left Slovan Bratislava bottom of the Champions League table, yet to earn their first point after four matches, while Dinamo are up to 10th on seven points with the later matches still to play.
Data debrief: Dinamo sitting pretty
Dinamo Zagreb have opened a six-point gap to the bottom eight in the Champions League table, having dropped just two points since their 9-2 demolition away to Bayern Munich.
Qualification for the play-off round would mark the first time that the Croatian side have ever progressed into the knockout stage in the competition.
Their victory, meanwhile, was the first time – excluding qualifiers – in which they have scored four goals away from home in the Champions League.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
