Port Vale will be looking to bounce back this afternoon as they host Oldham Athletic in Sky Bet League Two action, and you can find all of the key information regarding the tie, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Oldham Athletic
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 29th December 2018
Kick-Off: 15:00
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Paul Marsden
Port Vale
Form: LWLLWWDDDL
League Position: 16th
Top Scorer: Tom Pope (10 goals)
Neil Aspin will be looking for an immediate response this afternoon as his side faces manager-less, Oldham Athletic. The Valiants are now four games without a win following the Boxing Day loss to Grimsby Town.
The last time Vale faced The Latics, a first-half Tom Pope penalty was enough to secure all three points at Boundary Park. The October win ended a three-game losing streak, though wasn’t enough to lift Burslem outfit higher than 16th place.
It is yet to be seen whether Connell Rawlinson will be available for selection this afternoon after the defender missed the defeat to Grimsby Town through injury. Ben Whitfield, however, will have thrown his name into the hat for a starter’s place against The Latics having impressed on Boxing Day following his introduction.
Tom Pope still has the added incentive to perform as the skipper remains just two goals adrift of the 100-goal milestone in a Vale shirt ahead of this afternoon’s tie.
Oldham Athletic
Form: WWDDWWLWLL
League Position: 12th
Top Scorer: Sam Surridge (8 goals)
Following The Latics 6-0 defeat last time out, Oldham have parted company with their now former boss, Frankie Bunn. Paul Wild has temporarily taken over as caretaker manager, while the club look to appoint a new permanent manager.
Oldham now sit in 12th place having played out eight wins, eight draws and eight losses.
Not only will Oldham be without a permanent manager, a number of first-team regulars are set to miss the league clash through injury. Dan Gardner, Jose Baxter, Zeus de la Paz, Jonathan Benteke and Ousmane fan will all be absent this afternoon.
Andy Taylor returned for the Boxing Day fixture and is set to keep his place, whereas Johan Branger could also be an option after made a substitute appearance on Wednesday.
One to watch: Sam Surridge
Surridge is on currently playing with Oldham on loan from parent club, AFC Bournemouth. He has been with the southern outfit since the age of 14 and his highly rated amongst his peers.
Surridge has also represented Yeovil Town at League Two level, where he helped The Glovers ensure their status in the Football League.
The forward is currently The Latics top goal-scorer, netting eight times and assisting two so far this season.
Talk
Neil Aspin: “The recent games have shown that we need to be better and we need to strengthen - we will strive to do that, but everyone knows it’s difficult. I’m not one to give false promises or false hope, but we’ll try our best to improve things. No matter who we’re playing we have to work on our own team to try and get better.”
Pete Wild: “I think it's quite clear where the side is at over the past couple of games, we've unfortunately had two defeats, one being a heavy one. But before that we were on a good run of form and we were seven points off the playoffs and we've got to think like that. We're still in the top half of the table and things can change in football quickly.”
Coverage
Follow The Vale will be providing full 90 minute commentary from the match, while the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feed 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.