The Vale will look to pick up their third consecutive home victory in the league today, as they also seek their first ever victory over the Ammies. The Vale welcome Salford City to Vale Park and you can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Salford City
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 1st February 2020
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Neil Hair
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: WLWLW
Top Goal Scorer: Tom Pope (8 goals)
The Vale will be hoping they can keep their impressive home run going and pick up their third win in a row at Vale Park, where they have lost just once this season, and make it back-to-back wins after their impressive comeback against Exeter City.
The Valiants will also be looking to avenge their latest result against the Ammies, where they were knocked out of the Leasing.com Trophy 3-0 away at the Peninsula Stadium, with Askey’s men yet to defeat the newly-promoted side.
John Askey is still without Adam Crookes and Manny Oyeleke, but they have returned to training and are expected to return to action soon, whilst Jake Taylor still remains sidelined by a knee injury, but that aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from, with new signing Mitch Clark available to make his first appearance.
“We’ve shown all season that we’re capable [of beating anyone], a little bit more consistency would be nice, everyone’s looking for that but on our day we can give anyone a game.”
Dave Kevan, Port Vale Assistant Manager
Salford City
Manager: Graham Alexander
Form: LLWDW
Top Goal Scorer(s): Adam Rooney (8 goals)
The Ammies head into the game in a good run of form, with the side unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions, including a Leasing.com Trophy quarter-final win and a 4-0 victory away at Oxford United on Tuesday.
Salford have also been displaying their large financial backing during the transfer window, bringing in seven new faces, including Tom Elliott, James Wilson and George Tanner, who signed on loan from Manchester United.
Graham Alexander could be without Nathan Pond and new signing Tom Elliott for the game as the pair remain in need of fitness tests before being able to feature. Those worries aside, Alexander has a fully fit and transfer boosted squad to choose from.
One to watch: James Wilson
The Ammies being able to bring Wilson to the Peninsula Stadium has been one of the biggest stories of the January transfer window.
The 24-year-old striker graduated from the Manchester United academy before representing Brighton & Hove Albion, Derby County and Sheffield United in loan moves.
Wilson, who has appeared for England at under-16 to under-21 level moved to Aberdeen in the SPL on loan last season before signing on a permanent basis, with him bagging four goals last season.
The Ammies will be hoping that Wilson, who scored three goals in 15 appearances for Man United, will hit the ground running, as he could be set to make his debut today.
Talk:
Dave Kevan: “[It’ll be] very tough, they’re [Salford] obviously strengthening every day, no doubt they’ll be looking to do some more business today I would’ve thought, so we’re not quite sure what sort of team we’ll be up against but we know it’ll be another tough test for us and one that we’re looking forward to.”
Graham Alexander: “We know the quality they have but we have to go and repeat what we did on Tuesday night – and for good spells in other games – and go there confident in what we’ve been doing of late.”
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.