Port Vale make the long trip to the JobServe Community Stadium this weekend as they begin their 2019/20 Sky Bet League Two campaign. A fresh start, with fresh faces and a positive feel around the club; the ‘New Era’ gets underway. John Askey will take charge of his first full season as manager of Port Vale, with his impressive squad looking for a strong start. You can find all of the key information regarding the clash, below.
Fixture: Colchester United vs Port Vale
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 3rd August 2019
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: JobServe Community Stadium
Referee: Darren Drysdale
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Pre-season Form: WWWWLL
Top Goal Scorer Last Season: Tom Pope (12 goals)
The Valiants will be looking to start their season with a bang, as they travel to the JobServe Community Stadium to face Colchester United. The gaffer has been impressed by his side across pre-season and will be hoping they carry their high level of performances with them as they open their 2019/20 campaign.
After a difficult season last year, Port Vale look to take the hope generated by the ‘new era’ and start off with 3 points. After a busy summer has seen 11 fresh faces join the dressing room, the Valiants are hopeful they will bring strong performances and good results into the side with them.
Going into the clash, Vale will be without new signing Rhys Browne as he is still side-lined by a hamstring injury. Ryan Lloyd and Cristian Montano have been recovering from injuries, but may be able to feature. That aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
Colchester United
Manager: John McGreal
Pre-season Form: WWWWLLD
Top Goal Scorer Last Season: Sammie Szmodics (15 goals)
The U’s will be hoping to pick up their form from the end of last season, where they won three of their last five, into the opening weekend. Their 3-0 win away at Lincoln City left them just one point away from the Play-Off’s, and promotion will again be their aim.
Colchester have made 10 additions over the summer, as they seek to make the final step towards gaining promotion into League One, however, they will be without last season’s top scorer, Sammie Szmodics, who left for Bristol City.
Midfielder Harry Pell is back from injury following a hamstring injury which saw him miss the last three months of the season, whilst forward Jevani Brown looks set to make his debut following a move from Cambridge.
One to watch: Courtney Senior
With Szmodics departing the club, it has fallen on Senior to fill his boots as the main man on the South Coast.
A creative player who is capable of scoring, Senior came through the Brentford academy, and joined Colchester in 2016.
The 22-year-old wide-man impressed last season, finding the net four times in his 19 appearances for the U’s.
Senior won Colchester’s Young Player of the Year award for his contributions last season, and will seek to continue his exciting form.
Talk:
John Askey: “We know going there [Colchester] is going to be tough, but as we’ve said all along, it doesn’t matter who you play in the league, it’s about us.
We know the league has improved, teams have come down and teams have come up, but there’s no reason why we can’t compete against anybody.”
John McGreal: “This is a fresh start and it’s nice to start at home, we’ve been craving a home fixture on the opening day because our last few have been away.
Port Vale will come with big threats all over the pitch, they have some good, experienced players at this level, give them an inch and they’ll take a mile and we’ll definitely have to be on our guard.”
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 the 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.