Port Vale have been drawn an away tie to Bristol Rovers in the Quarter Final of the Checkatrade Trophy, and we take a closer look at how our opponents have fared so far in the competition.
The Pirates progressed through the group stages in second place of their group having picked up six points. Exeter City pipped them to top spot with eight points, however wins over West Ham United Under-21s and Yeovil Town ensured Bristol's progression to the Second Round.
An 89th minute Alex Jakubiak winner saw Bristol overcome Swansea City Under-21s 2-1 to see their way into the Third Round of the cup competition, before beating Northampton by the same scoreline in the next round, now setting up a home tie against The Valiants.
Neil Aspin, speaking on TalkSport Radio this evening, had this to say on the draw: “In any cup competition you like to get a home draw but at this stage of the competition you just have to take whatever is on offer. We will go there and give it our best shot.
“It has been good for us because we are having a difficult season in the league. So I think at times this competition has been very good for us. It has enabled us to work on a couple of things.
"Then the Stoke game...whenever you play Stoke, it is always going to be a big game for us and it was a good experience for our players because there was a great atmosphere.
"Obviously it’s not a full derby but it was certainly keenly contested and I think the players enjoyed playing in it.”
All Checkatrade Trophy fixtures are set to take place during the week commencing Monday 21st January, and once the date of the match has been set, ticket details for the Quarter Final clash will be released.