Port Vale will host third placed Forest Green Rovers, at Vale Park tonight, in their second home game of the new season. After three draws from their opening three games, the Valiants will be hoping for their first win of the Campaign. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Forest Green Rovers
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Tuesday 20th August 2019
Kick-Off: 7:45 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Ross Joyce
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: DDD
Top Goal Scorer(s): Tom Pope, David Amoo and Richie Bennett (1 goal)
The Valiants have another opportunity to pick up their first win of the new season, after a heart-breaking extra-time equaliser cancelled out a late Richie Bennett goal that looked to have won it for the Vale against Salford City, preventing a deserved three points.
With that in mind, Vale will be heading into the game with plenty of momentum and desire behind them, which they will hope to use to pick up their first ever league victory over the Green Army and continue their unbeaten start to the season.
John Askey will again be without midfielder Manny Oyeleke and new signing Rhys Browne, as both are side-lined by hamstring injuries. David Worrall is expected to be available despite breaking his nose on Saturday. That aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
“It’s going to be another tough game, obviously they’re unbeaten as we stand in the league at the moment, so they’ve had a good start, but we have as well so it should be a good game."
Dave Kevan, Port Vale Assistant Manager
Forest Green Rovers
Manager: Mark Cooper
Form: WDW
Top Goal Scorer(s): Junior Mondal, Joseph Mills and Taylor Allen (1 goal)
The Green Army have also gotten off to a strong start to the season, picking up wins at home to Oldham Athletic and Grimsby Town, and drawing away at Walsall.
Their good results have left them in third position in the league, whilst they saw success in the Carabao Cup progressing to the second round after beating Championship Charlton Athletic away 5-3 on penalties.
Mark Cooper's side are still without midfielder George Williams as well as defender Liam Sheppard. Fellow defender Farrend Rawson is back however, recovering from a concussion that saw him miss their last game against Grimsby.
One to watch: Shawn McCoulsky
McCoulsky is a young English forward who joined the Green Army from Championship Bristol City this summer.
Having worked his way up through non-league football with Dulwich Hamlet, McCoulsky earnt a move to Bristol City in 2015.
The 22-year-old represented five clubs, such as Newport County and Southend, on loan from Bristol City, scoring 30 gaols in the process before moving to The New Lawn.
Although he is yet to open his Forest Green account, big things are expected from the attacker after Christian Doidge and Reece Brown left the club, making McCoulsky the clubs main goal threat.
Talk:
John Askey: “[We’re looking to] get a win, just keep doing what we’re doing and just hope now that chances that we get, we start to put them away.”
Mark Cooper: “We’ll look at Port Vale, we’ll look at them over the weekend, we’ll look at their strengths and their weaknesses, because I’m sure there’ll be two or three [players] that freshen us up.”
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.
You can watch the game LIVE from your home by purchasing the iFollow video Match Pass for £10.
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.