 He joined Stockport County on 15 December 2006, from Atherton Collieries, where he made his name scoring a hat-trick against F.C.United of Manchester and signed initially on a short-term contract at Edgeley Park, and made an instant impact on the team, scoring three goals in his first four games for the club, including two against Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow.Pilkington then played a big part in County's record breaking run of results during January and February 2007.