The Vale will look to get straight back to winning ways, as they welcome Scunthorpe United to Vale Park and go in search of revenge over the Iron. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Scunthorpe United
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 29th February 2020
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Antony Coggins
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: DWWWD
Top Goal Scorer: Tom Pope (10 goals)
The Vale will be hoping they will be able to keep their impressive unbeaten run, the best run of form in the whole of League Two, going and extend it to seven games, when they welcome the Iron to Vale Park where they have lost just once this season.
The Valiants picked up another point in their Play-Off push away at Walsall last weekend and John Askey’s side will be hoping to collect another three and move back into the Play-Off positions where they currently sit one space out of due to goal difference alone.
John Askey has seen recent returns to fitness for Manny Oyeleke, Jake Taylor and Nathan Smith, with Adam Crookes now joining that list as he has recovered from his injury, with James Gibbons and Tom Pope both coming back from suspension against Walsall. Mitch Clark still has one game left of his three match ban and the gaffer has been handed a fresh injury in Shaun Brisley who picked up a problem with his knee, but that aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
“The players have done well and they’ve been consistent over the season, to have only lost eight all season and only lost one at home, the consistency’s been there.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Scunthorpe United
Manager: Russ Wilcox
Form: LLWLW
Top Goal Scorer(s): Kevin Van Veen (10 goals)
The Iron have been in a challenging position in recent weeks, as manager Paul Hurst left Scunthorpe following a 3-0 defeat to Northampton, leaving Russ Wilcox and Lee Turnbull in charge as caretaker managers.
The pair have picked up wins in two of their four games in charge, with the Iron heading to Vale Park on the back of a 1-0 win at home to Forest Green Rovers, and with the knowledge that they have already beaten the Vale at home this season.
Mark Cooper could be without Jevani Brown for the game as he continues to struggle with a hamstring injury. George Williams returned to action last weekend so he’s in contention for the Rovers, and no new injuries at Walsall means that worry aside, Cooper has a fully fit squad to choose from.
Russ Wilcox will be without defender Harrison McGahey who will miss out through concussion, with Ryan Colclough set to be absent out with a back injury. Midfielder Levi Sutton could return to contention after recovering from concussion.
One to watch: Kevin Van Veen
Van Veen has been the star man for the Iron so far this season, bagging 10 goals, including the equaliser when they took on the Vale earlier this season.
The forward has previously represented Scunthorpe back in 2015 when he moved from the Dutch second division where he scored 16 goals in 20 games for FC Oss.
Van Veen found the net twice in his debut season with the Iron before returning to Holland on loan with SC Cambuur where he found his form which he carried in his return to Scunthorpe seeing him score 23 times before leaving to join Northampton Town
After an impressive spell with the Cobblers, Van Veen was brought back by Scunthorpe where he has continued to impress in League Two.
Talk:
John Askey: “They’ve improved under Russ Wilcox, at the start of the season you would’ve said they’d be one of the promotion favourites, they spent a lot of money, they’ve got some good players and they’ve picked up, so it’ll be a tough fixture.”
Russ Wilcox: “They have a terrific home record and have only lost one there all season, so we know how hard it’s going to be, but we’re in good spirits after last week. We’ve won two out of the last three games with clean sheets, so we’re in a good place at the moment.
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.