Port Vale will be looking to end the year with three points, when we travel to the Utilita Energy Stadium to take on Bradford City. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Bradford City vs Port Vale
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Tuesday 29th December
Kick-Off: 7:00 pm
Venue: Utilita Energy Stadium
Referee: Peter Wright
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: WDDLL
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (5 Goals)
The Valiants have the chance to bounce back from successive defeats over the festive period and round off 2020 with a win, as we travel to Bradford City’s Utilita Energy Stadium.
Valiants will recall our memorable 2-1 away victory last season, where a late Will Atkinson goal secured all three points and our first away win of the 2019/20 campaign.
Askey’s side will be hoping to repeat that success tomorrow, with a win potentially seeing Vale move four points above tomorrow night’s opponents and back into the top half of the table.
John Askey will still be without Tom Conlon, Mark Cullen, David Worrall, Manny Oyeleke, Cristian Montaño and James Gibbons for the game as they remain sidelined.
“We appreciate everything people have done, in times of hardship, they’ve really backed the football club and we’ve got to put on a show tomorrow to show that we care, because we do and hopefully tomorrow will be the start of a comeback.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Bradford City
Manager(s): Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars
Form: LDWWW
Top Goal Scorer: Lee Novak (7 Goals)
After going nine games without a win in all competitions, the Bantams have turned things around in recent games, winning their last three games and climbing the table to 18th in the table, just one point behind the Vale, with Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars earning interim charge until further notice.
Their form turned with a 1-0 win against Cambridge United, before following up with victories at both Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers with Lee Novak being the star man, netting in their last two games.
Reece Staunton and Zeli Ismail remain sidelined with long-term injuries, and Tuesday evening should still prove to be too early for Bryce Hosannah, following a hamstring injury against Oldham Athletic.
One to watch: Lee Novak
Lee Novak is the Bantams’ top scorer so far this season with seven goals so far and is currently enjoying his best run of the season with two in his last two.
Novak made his football league debut just over ten years ago with Huddersfield Town, making just shy of 150 league appearances for the Terriers as well as helping the club to achieve promotion to the Championship in 2013.
The 32-year-old then moved to Birmingham City during the summer of that year, before then going onto play for Chesterfield and Charlton Athletic, before Novak signed for Scunthorpe United in 2017.
He netted 23 times during his time with the Irons and was picked up by Bradford in January of this year and has had a successful spell thus far.
Talk:
John Askey: “Last season we hadn’t won away and it changed our fortune and gave us confidence that we could go and win away from home, it’s slightly different now but hopefully it’ll have the same effect.”
Conor Sellars: “While we have enjoyed our start to life in a first-team environment, we have to be mindful that this will be a long season, and one which we are keen to tackle with everything we have.”
Coverage:
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute coverage of the match for all domestic supporters, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
To purchase an iFollow match pass click here.
There will also be the build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: @officialpvfc
Reaction will be available on the website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and our official social media channels.