The games continue to come thick and fast, with an away trip to Milton Keynes to face MK Dons next on the agenda for Vale.
The Dons will be hoping to turn their poor form around, losing their first three league matches this campaign, with the most recent being a 3-0 away loss to Ipswich Town at the weekend.
Vale come into this one off the back of a strong performance against Bolton Wanderers in a fiery encounter that ended 0-0.
In this article we take a look into the Buckinghamshire side, and what we can expect from them on Tuesday.
ONE TO WATCH: Jamie Cumming
It’s very rare the man between the sticks can be seen as a team’s star player, but for MK Dons Jamie Cumming is exactly that.
Currently at the start of his second loan spell in Milton Keynes from home club Chelsea, the 22-year-old has impressed hugely in net for the Dons.
Cumming is a product of Chelsea’s academy, signing a professional contract with the Blues in 2018, after many years of training in Cobham.
However, in 2020 it was time for the goalkeeper to go out on loan for the first time, but he didn’t have to go far out of London, playing over 40 times for Stevenage in the 2020/21 campaign.
Next up for Cumming was Gillingham, where he was on loan at the start of last season, but after impressing in Kent, he was recalled in January, only to be loaned out the same day to MK Dons.
In Milton Keynes he showed what he could do, keeping 10 clean sheets for the club and helping them get into the play-offs, where they lost to Wycombe Wanderers in the semi-final.
July arrived, and Cumming returned to Buckinghamshire for a season-long loan, hoping to continue his brilliant form for the club.
THE MAN AT THE HELM: Liam Manning
One of the more youthful managers in the football league at just 36 years old, Liam Manning arrived in the dugout at Milton Keynes at the start of last season.
His first campaign in the hotseat was a good but agonising one, as the Dons missed automatic promotion by a single point and also lost in the play-off semi-finals.
On a personal note, it was a successful season for Manning, with the head coach winning two Sky Bet League One manager of the month awards in September and January.
Before Manning went into coaching, he spent a lot of his time playing in non-league as a midfielder.
His career started in the academy at Norwich City before a trip to East Anglia to join rivals Ipswich, who he signed a professional deal with.
Unfortunately for Manning he was released in 2005, and after a few years in non-league he retired in 2010 to pursue his career in coaching, which has gone rather well.
STADIUM: Stadium MK
Stadium MK is the home of the Dons, having been built in 2007, three years after the formation of MK Dons from the ashes of Wimbledon FC.
The ground is one of the more impressive builds in the division, being able to hold over 30,000 fans.
The stadium has the potential to add more seating and rise the capacity to over 40,000, and the ground has already been used for tournaments such as the UEFA Women’s Euro’s 2022.
HEAD-TO-HEAD LAST FIVE:
Vale wins: 2
Draws: 2
MK Dons wins: 1
Darrell Clarke’s Vale have the better of the recent record against the Dons and they will want to keep it that way on Tuesday.
Both of the Valiants wins in the last five between the teams have been down in Milton Keynes, most recently winning 1-0 in an FA Cup tie at Stadium MK in 2019.