10-man Forest Green fell to a 2-0 defeat at Stockport County at Edgeley Park on Tuesday evening.

Goals from Tanto Olaofe, Antoni Sarcevic saw Rovers fall to their fifth straight defeat.

David Horseman made three changes to the side that was defeated by Morecambe, bringing in Harvey Bunker, Tyrese Omotoye and Matty Taylor. Reece Brown came out of the squad after picking up a minor hamstring injury, while Matty Stevens and Jamie Robson dropped to the bench.

The first chance of the game came after 12 minutes when Omotoye cut in from the left and unleashed a powerful shot on goal, but it was saved by Ben Hinchliffe.

Just three minutes later, Stockport took the lead. Bunker did well to block a shot, but the rebound fell to Will Collar, who chipped a ball towards the back post and it was headed home by Tanto Olaofe.

The dangerous Louie Barry nearly doubled County's lead on the 20 minute mark, bursting down the left touchline and making his way into the box, but his curling shot went wide.

Rovers had the ball in the back of the net shortly after through Troy Deeney, but Matty Taylor was adjudged to have been offside earlier in the move.

Barry was at it again 13 minutes before the interval, beating Dom Bernard down the left side before flashing a ball across the face of goal. Luckily, there was nobody on the end of it.

County did double their lead three minutes later as Antoni Sarcevic slotted home from close range after meeting Olaofe's low cutback.

Former FGR loanee Odin Bailey nearly added a third shortly before the break, with his left-footed curling strike nearly finding the bottom corner.

Shortly after the restart, Sarcevic could have doubled his tally for the evening. The experienced midfielder was played in down the right channel and his sweet half-volley was expertly tipped onto the bar by Belshaw.

Rovers responded as Bunker laid the ball off to McCann on the edge of the box, with the Northern Ireland U21s' international seeing his low shot blocked.

Just after the hour mark, Marcel Lavinier was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card for a strong challenge on Macualey Southam-Hales by the left touchline, leaving Rovers with a mountain to climb.

Belshaw was called into action on 75 minutes, making an outstanding double save to keep the score at 2-0. He kept out Collar before getting back up to deny Paddy Madden from close range.

Rovers have now dropped into the relegation zone and face Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium on Saturday.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: RYAN INNISS

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