Port Vale will welcome Stevenage to Vale Park this afternoon as they seek their fifth win in this year’s Sky Bet League Two campaign. After a disappointing loss away at Macclesfield last weekend, the Valiants will be hoping they can get back to winning ways. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Stevenage
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 19th October 2019
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Peter Wright
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: LDDWL
Top Goal Scorer: Richie Bennett (4 goals)
After a disappointing performance against Macclesfield Town John Askey and his side will be hopeful that they can bounce straight back into their previous form and add another three points to their tally as they look to climb up the table.
The Valiants have made Vale Park a fortress so far this season, going six games unbeaten at home and picking up wins in four of the encounters, so will see a home game as the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways.
The gaffer has had a number of players returning from their injuries lately, with Jordan Archer, Cristian Montano and Rhys Browne back in contention for places within the first team. The Vale are still without Manny Oyeleke, Mark Cullen, Callum Evans and Tom Conlon who all remain sidelined with injuries. That aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
“Every home game now we’re confident, we’ve got as good a record as anybody at home so we’ve got to go into Saturday’s game thinking we’ve got a great chance.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Stevenage
Manager: Mark Sampson
Form: LDDLW
Top Goal Scorer(s): Kurtis Guthrie (4 goals)
Stevenage have had a difficult start to the season, failing to score in their opening five league games, and having to wait until last week to pick up their first win of the season.
They will hope to carry the form of that 2-1 win at home to Grimsby Town into today’s game and use their past success at Vale Park as further encouragement, having won their last visit 4-1.
Mark Sampson is also missing a few players for the game, with defender Terence Vancooten and midfielders Paul Digby and Dean Parrett all missing out with injuries.
One to watch: Kurtis Guthrie
Kurtis Guthrie has been one shining light in what was a dark start to the season for Stevenage, with the forward providing a strong attacking output for the team and being able to grab four goals so far in the league.
Guthrie provides a physical presence up front, standing at six foot three, and began his career in his home country of Jersey, before being picked up by Accrington Stanley.
The forward spent a few years developing his skills in non-league football at clubs such as Welling United where he caught the eye of Forest Green Rovers in 2014.
After two years at Forest Green and two years at Colchester United Guthrie joined Stevenage where he has gone on to become a key part of their side, scoring the opening goal against Grimsby as they secured their first win of the season.
Talk:
John Askey: “Every game’s different, it’s about us performing and working really hard, doing what we’ve been doing, so that’s the message to the players, go out and express themselves and get back to what we were doing.”
Mark Sampson: “They are a very good side at this level with an excellent home record. They come into this game unbeaten at home, a team that are effective at set-pieces, a team that are very resilient, defensively they don’t concede many goals.”
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.