We return to Skybet League One action tomorrow as we welcome Wigan Athletic to Vale Park.
Last time out in the league Vale ran out 1-0 winners against Exeter City at St James Park. Ollie Arblaster’s close-range finish on the half-hour mark was enough to separate the sides and earn Vale a crucial three points on the road.
Crosby’s comments:
Here’s what the Vale manager had to say ahead of Saturday’s fixture:
“There would have been no one more disappointed in the stadium than the group of players and staff after the game on Tuesday night because of the nature of how the game had gone and how the game was in our control. To concede a goal in the 96th minute to take the game to extra time and then do a similar thing in extra time made it really, really disappointing and the players and staff were as disappointed as anyone in the whole stadium”
“It's important that you go through the process of the emotions, in the immediate aftermath of the game everyone’s extremely disappointed but we’re here to respond, we have to respond, we’re paid to respond and our sole focus since that game ended is about learning from it and what we can control going forward. The players who have played the ninety-plus thirty minutes, that’s a huge effort and with the workload and schedule that we’ve got its important that those guys recover both physically and mentally. The process starts again now in terms of our preparation for Wigan and what we need to do to beat Wigan”
The Opposition:
Wigan Athletic currently sit one place and one point above Vale in the league as they occupy 14th place. It must be noted that Wigan had an 8-point deduction at the start of the season, so they have come back well and started the season brightly. They come into the game on a 9-game unbeaten streak which stems back to the 31st October when they lost 3-2 against Charlton Athletic.
In their last outing, they drew 0-0 at home to Lincoln City in a game where there was just one shot on target in ninety minutes.
The Latics are managed by their FA Cup winning player Shaun Maloney. The 40-year-old had a successful playing career, making over 100 appearances for Celtic, helping them get to the UEFA Cup final in 2003. Maloney also represented Aston Villa during the 2007-08 season in the Premier League. The highlight of Maloney’s career came on the 11th May 2013 when he helped Wigan Athletic beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Since retiring from playing, Maloney has been on the coaching staff at Belgium where he represented them in their delayed Euro 2020 campaign where they lost to eventual winners Italy in the quarter-final. In January 2023, he returned to Wigan Athletic to take up the hot seat in a tough time for Wigan with a lot of off-the-field issues going on at the club. He has since helped steady the ship at the DW Stadium, winning 17 of his 45 games.
Player to watch - Stephen Humphreys
The 26-year-old has scored seven goals so far this season and is the clubs leading goalscorer. His last goal came in their FA Cup victory over York City at the start of the month when his second-half strike earned The Latics a home tie against Manchester United.
Another player to watch is Sam Tickle. The Wigan goalkeeper has come through the club ranks and cemented his place in the first team where he has impressed with six clean sheets so far this season. His solid performances have earned him a call-up to the England U21 squad.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 3-2 Wigan Athletic, 12 September 2015.
Anthony Grant gave Vale the lead when he won the ball on the edge of the box and thundered a strike into the bottom corner in the 34th minute. Louis Dodds doubled the lead in the second half when he fired a strike into the roof of the net from close range in the 64th minute. The visitors pulled a goal back immediately when Chris McCann finished well from close range. With seven minutes to go, Leon Barnett got up highest to head home a corner from the right to complete the fightback for Wigan.
However, the game wasn’t done there. Barnett went from hero to villain when he was shown a red card for bringing down Enoch Andoh as the Ghanaian winger bared down on goal. In added time, Vale made their man advantage count when current Vale striker Uche Ikpeazu won the game for Vale with a close-range strike deep into added time to earn Vale a hard-fought three points to maintain their positive start to their league one season.