Port Vale will welcome Cheltenham Town to Vale Park today as they look to pick up another three points in their Sky Bet League Two campaign, and the Valiants will be hoping to repeat their success against Cheltenham from the second round of the FA Cup. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Cheltenham Town
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 29th December 2019
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Leigh Doughty
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: WWLLD
Top Goal Scorer: Jake Taylor (5 goals)
The Vale will be hoping they can repeat their success against the Robins from a few weeks ago in the FA Cup where a Tom Pope hat-trick saw a 3-1 comeback secure Vale’s place in the Third Round.
After going three league games without a win the Valiants will be eager to get another three points on the board and keep their push up the table going as they continue through the Christmas period and head into the new year.
John Askey has not been handed any fresh injury concerns ahead of the clash, and has been given a boost as David Worrall returns from suspension. Manny Oyeleke and Adam Crookes are the only two players still forced out via injury. That aside Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
“I’m wary because obviously the last few results haven’t been what we’ve wanted so that’s my focus, I haven’t thought about Man City, all I’m thinking about is Cheltenham tomorrow.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Cheltenham Town
Manager: Michael Duff
Form: DDDWD
Top Goal Scorer(s): Ryan Broom and Luke Varney (6 goals)
The Robins have only suffered one defeat in their last seven games in all competitions and that came at the hands of Port Vale in the FA Cup, so they enter the fixture hoping to avenge their FA Cup knockout.
Despite being undefeated in their last five matches, Cheltenham have only picked up one win, leaving them still in third place but with three teams level on points with them.
Chris Hussey, Reuben Reid and Luke Varney will miss the match through injury, whilst Conor Thomas and Tahvon Campbell returned to training so they may be available for selection for the game.
One to watch: Gavin Reilly
Scottish forward Gavin Reilly joined Cheltenham Town on loan from Bristol Rovers in August.
Reilly started out his career in his native Scotland where he played for Queen of the South where he made over 100 appearances before moving on to Heart of Midlothian.
In 2017 he moved to Scottish Premiership side St Mirren before moving to England the following year when he joined Bristol Rovers.
In August he joined the Robins on loan and has hit the ground running, already finding the back of the net four times so far.
Talk:
John Askey: “If we can get three points it puts us back in a decent position and that’s what we need, we need to perform well at home and get the crowd behind us again."
Michael Duff: "Other than the Port Vale game in the FA Cup we've been difficult to beat. I think the two defeats that we've had were in August but recently we haven't quite done enough to win a game."
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.