Port Vale will be looking to progress into the next stages of the Checkatrade Trophy when Stoke City U21s travel to Vale Park on Tuesday evening, and you can find all of the key information ahead of the tie below...
Fixture: Port Vale vs Stoke City U21s
Competition: Checkatrade Trophy
Date: Tuesday 4th December 2018
Kick-Off: 7:45pm
Venue: Vale Park
Port Vale
Form: WWDWDLWLLW
Top Scorer: Tom Pope (8 goals)
Neil Aspin's men go into this cup clash on the back of a 3-0 win away to Yeovil Town in Sky Bet League Two, and they will be hoping to take the positives from that night to secure progression in the Checkatrade Trophy.
The Valiants' record in the competition has been flawless up to this point, with three wins from as many games ensuring they progressed as group winners.
Victories over Burton Albion, Middlesbrough U21s and Walsall set Vale up with this tie, and they will be hopeful of getting another win to book their place in the Round of 16 draw, going one step further than last season.
It remains to be seen what kind of line-up the manager will name, but he has a near fully fit squad to choose from. Ricky Miller is set to be available once more following a hamstring injury, but Mitch Clark will be out of contention as he undergoes treatment back with parent club, Aston Villa.
Stoke City U21s
Form: DWDWLWLDWL
Top Scorer: Tyrese Campbell (6 goals)
The Young Potters will be confident of sealing progression themselves after proving themselves against Football League opposition during the group stages, and they reached this stage by finishing as runners-up.
They opened their campaign with a 0-0 draw away at League One Sunderland, but they missed out on a bonus point after they lost the resulting penalty shootout.
Tyrese Campbell then scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 win over Morecambe before a penalty shootout success provided them with another two points when they travelled away to Carlisle United, and that proved enough for a 2nd-place finish.
One To Watch - Tyrese Campbell
Son of former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell, Tyrese is a player looking to follow in his father's footsteps, and he is making a name for himself whilst representing Stoke City at development level.
Having risen through the ranks at Manchester City, the 18-year-old made the move to the Potteries in 2016 and he has impressed, being a regular in the U23s squad as well as tasting first-team football.
He made his Premier League debut back in February 2018 as Stoke drew away to Leicester City, but the Checkatrade Trophy has been a competition where he has been able to showcase his talent against league opposition.
Campbell has featured in all three games in the competition so far this season, and he also played in the Carabao Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest back in September. His goal scoring tally currently stands at six, but he will be hungry to add more on Tuesday evening.
Talk
Neil Aspin: “Regardless of who we are playing, it is a home tie in a competition we want to try to get further in. That is the top and bottom of it.
"Of course it becomes more important because of who we are playing, but the objective is still the same, we want to try to get through into the next round.”
“I’m really looking forward to see what their temperament is like. If they are to move forward in their careers they need to be able to deal with the mental side of such an occasion.”
Coverage
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute commentary from the match, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
There will also be build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: officialpvfc.
Reaction will be available on the official website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and social media.