Stockport County have confirmed that Finnish defender Arttu Hoskonen will not feature for the club this season as he continues to face injury issues.
The 28-year-old arrived at Edgeley Park on a free transfer in the summer after his release from Polish Ekstraklasa side Cracovia as Dave Challinor looked to finally push his side into the Championship with his recruitment.
However, the move for the centre-back has yet to deliver, with Hoskonen battling multiple injury issues, which means he is yet to make his senior debut for the Hatters.
Challinor Gives Update
Speaking to the media as County gear up for a major playoff showdown with Wycombe Wanderers on Good Friday, Dave Challinor revealed that Hoskonen is unlikely to feature this season, with the club now investigating his frequent injury setbacks.
While answering questions from BBC Radio Manchester, the Stockport boss said that while he might be ready to play in time for the Hatters’ potential playoff matches in May, the club will instead focus on preparing the defender for the 2026/27 season.
“It’s been a horrendous season for him personally with the injuries he’s picked up.
“What we have to do now is look a bit deeper at why that might be and that’s what the aim is over the coming weeks. He’ll have different tests and see different people to try to get to the bottom of the conundrum which has been placed in front of our medical team.
“The biggest thing we do now is support him. He’s obviously hugely disappointed because he’s come to a new country and new league and wants to show what he can do and he hasn’t been able to do that.
“We’ve brought in an international footballer who has showed away from here what he can do and his hope was to come here, run in and prove himself in English football.
“He’s not had the chance to do that and we’ve got to make sure we put him in a position where he has the opportunity to do that.”
Long-Term Recovery Key
As much as it would be nice for Stockport County to have Arttu Hoskonen ready for their prospective play-off semi-finals if the club finish in the top six, holding his recovery back in time for next season is probably the best course of action.
Throwing the defender, who is yet to play a minute of senior football in England since his arrival in the summer, into a high-stakes game could spell disaster, and with him not up to speed with the fitness of his teammates, he may not be able to last long in the match.
The Hatters have been strong at centre-back this season, with Ethan Pye, Joseph Olowu and Brad Hills being very reliable options for County across the campaign, but outside of those three are fairly threadbare in terms of numbers.
Stockport Have Game-Changer Up Sleeve
Dave Challinor also had some good news to deliver in his pre-Wycombe press conference, with the news that Louie Barry has finally participated in his first training session since his return to Edgeley Park.
Signed late in the window on loan from Aston Villa after his troubles in the Championship, Barry has been battling a knee injury, and is now well-placed to aid County in their quest to get promoted.
While it will take him time to build back up to the levels he showed during his previous spells in Greater Manchester, having that firepower available from the bench ahead of key games against Bolton Wanderers and Luton Town will be a great asset to have in securing as high a finish as possible.
Barry may not be up to par with where he once was due to his long absence and will have limited game time to try and have that impact, but nevertheless, his goalscoring accumen could be the difference maker in key matches to take County to Wembley and possibly beyond.
