The Vale travel to the Peninsula Stadium this evening where Askey’s side will be looking to make it into the quarter-finals of the Leasing.com Trophy for the second year in a row with victory over Salford.
Fixture: Salford City v Port Vale
Competition: Leasing.com Trophy
Date: Tuesday 7th January 2020
Kick-Off: 7:45 pm
Venue: Peninsula Stadium
Referee: Christopher Sarginson
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: DDWDL
Top Goal Scorer: Jake Taylor & Tom Pope (6 goals)
The Vale will no doubt go into this fixture high on confidence following a battling performance against current Premier League champions, Manchester City, last time out despite their FA Cup run coming to an end.
Askey’s men won all three of their group stage matches in the Leasing.com Trophy before beating Mansfield in the second round, and have fared well on the road in cup competitions this term, winning three of their four cup ties away from Vale Park, and a step closer to a trip to Wembley will certainly act as an incentive for the players in this one.
The Vale remain without Emmanuel Oyeleke and Adam Crookes through long-term injuries, yet there are no fresh injuries within the squad.
Salford City
Manager: Graham Alexander
Form: DWWLL
Top Goal Scorer: Adam Rooney (7 goals)
The Ammies ended 2019 on a high with impressive victories against Crewe Alexandra and Oldham Athletic respectively, yet Graham Alexander’s men haven’t quite managed to bring that form into the New Year as they suffered a New Years Day defeat to Grimsby and followed it up with another defeat to Walsall just three days later. Salford currently sit 12th in League Two, just three points behind the Valiants but have played a game more.
However, their form in this competition has been quite the contrary, and along with the Vale, today’s opponents also won all three of their group matches in the Leasing.com Trophy before beating Wolves Under-21’s to set up this tie for a place in the quarter-final.
Salford have a fresh attacking option in the form of 24-year-old, Ashley Hunter, after he signed a loan deal for the Ammies from parent club Fleetwood Town earlier this month; he made his debut for the club after coming off the bench on Saturday and will in contention to start this evening.
One to watch: Brandon Thomas-Astante
Thomas-Astante joined his hometown club, MK Dons, at the age of 12 and rose through ranks, and made his professional debut for the club back in 2016 before being released in 2019.
After making brief loan spells at Sutton United and Oxford City respectively, the 21-year-old joined Ebbsfleet United in August last year. That didn’t last long however, Thomas-Astante joined Salford less than a month later making his league debut for the Ammies in September.
Astante is enjoying a prolific spell for the club at the moment, after scoring his first goal for the club against high-flying Crewe on Boxing Day, he then followed it up with another brace against Oldham three days later, and also scored against Walsall on Saturday making it four goals in as many games.
Talk
Tom Pope: "It's gone now, I'm thinking about Salford now and the next game and the next game...as players we'll be watching videos on Salford on Monday and preparing for them.
Coverage
iFollow the Vale will be providing full 90minute commentary from the match, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
You can watch the game LIVE from your home by purchasing the iFollow video Match Pass for £10.
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.