Port Vale will look to return to winning ways following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Colchester United, when we take on Forest Green Rovers at Vale Park on Tuesday evening.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Forest Green Rovers
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Tuesday 15th December
Kick-Off: 7:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Charles Breakspear
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: LLWWD
Top goalscorer: Devante Rodney (4 Goals)
Despite settling for a point in Saturday’s clash with play-off chasing Colchester United, John Askey will be pleased with the manner of Vale’s performance and will be hoping for another positive display against Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday evening with the Valiants hopefully securing three points this time out.
Vale know that a win against an in-form Forest Green side could potentially take us to within one point of the play-off spots, so the points are all to play for under the lights at Vale Park.
In this fixture last season, we recorded our first league victory of the campaign with goals from Richie Bennett and David Amoo securing a 2-1 midweek victory over Rovers, so John Askey will be hoping for a similar score line on Tuesday evening. Valiants may also recall our last meeting with the Rovers, with Askey’s side holding on for a 3-2 away win despite going down to 9 men.
Mark Cullen will be unavailable through injury for Tuesday evening’s clash whilst James Gibbons is still unable to play following his hamstring injury at Wigan Athletic in October.
“Forest Green are a good side and it’ll probably be an even tougher game than we had on Saturday, but we usually raise our game when we play the better teams.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Forest Green Rovers
Manager: Mark Cooper
Form: WDWLW
Top Goal Scorer: Jamille Matt (8 goals)
Mark Cooper’s side have had an excellent season so far, and will be coming to Vale Park full of confidence in the middle of a five-game unbeaten streak in the league.
The Rovers currently sit in fourth place in the league, level on points with third-placed Carlisle United and six points clear into a play-off position.
Their start to the season shows that they have genuine ambitions of a promotion challenge to Sky Bet League One and they will be hoping to take the points home on Tuesday evening, knowing a win could place them as high as second in the table ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
One to watch: Jamille Matt
The 31-year-old striker has enjoyed a fruitful spell following his signing for the Rovers in the summer transfer window, scoring eight goals for Mark Cooper’s side so far this season.
Matt has had a successful career across the EFL, having played for clubs such as Fleetwood Town, Blackpool and most recently Newport County where he scored the opening goal in a famous 2-1 FA Cup third-round victory over Premier League Leicester City in January 2019.
The Valiants chances of winning the match will be significantly boosted if they can keep the Rovers’ top-scorer quiet.
Talk:
Mark Cooper: “We need to be on top of our game, play really well and work really hard, and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”
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.