The Valiants are back at home this weekend as we welcome Cheltenham Town to Vale Park.
On Tuesday night the Vale suffered a narrow defeat against Peterborough United so we will be looking to bounce back against a Cheltenham Town side that sit bottom of League One.
Crosby’s Comments
Looking ahead to Saturday’s fixture, Crosby said:
“It’s another opponent, It’s our next game. Cheltenham have found it hard to score goals at the start of the season. Darrell’s got his own way of working; he’s now bought in Adam Murray who came to work with me when I took interim charge of the club last season. He’s a really good guy and a good coach and after Saturday’s game I wish them all the luck in the world but obviously not on Saturday.”
“We always look at the next opponent and their strengths and weaknesses, we’ll do the same for Cheltenham and we’ll be respectful of them. Every single game in this league is incredibly difficult and challenging in its own way. But first and foremost, we will keep looking at ourselves and evaluating ourselves and our own performance and areas that we need to get better at.”
The Opposition
Our visitors currently sit at the bottom of the league with five points from their opening fourteen fixtures.
In midweek, The Robins were beaten 3-2 by Blackpool. Cheltenham went 3-0 down before former Stoke City youngster Will Goodwin scored a brace to make the score line more respectable. It took Cheltenham 11 games to open their account for the season, Rob Street finally scored their first goal in a 1-1 draw with Derby County at the beginning of the month.
After picking up just one point from their opening eight games, The club parted company with manager Wade Elliot. Nine days later, former Port Vale FC Manager Darrell Clarke was appointed as the club’s new manager and they have since picked up four points, scoring five times in his first five fixtures in the hot seat.
Player to Watch – Liam Sercombe
Liam Sercombe has made over 130 appearances for The Robins since joining the club in the summer of 2020. The central midfielder played a pivotal role when the club won promotion to League One in the 2020-21 season.
Sercombe made his professional debut in 2007 for his boyhood club, Exeter City. He would then go on to make over 200 appearances for The Grecians, helping them to consecutive promotions from the National League to League One.
In 2015 Sercome joined Oxford United where he would score 19 goals from midfield In his first season at the Kassam Stadium. These goals helped the U’s gain promotion to League One. The following season they reached the EFL Trophy final but lost 3-2 before losing again the following season to Coventry City in a game where Sercombe scored in their 2-1 loss.
In May 2017 Sercombe joined Bristol Rovers where he would go onto make 103 appearances for the Gas. After being released by Bristol, he went onto join Cheltenham Town where he has since made 131 appearances for the Robins.
Curtis Davies also plays for Cheltenham Town. However, he hasn’t made an appearance since being sent off against Fleetwood Town earlier this month.
Last time we met
Cheltenham Town 0-0 Port Vale, Saturday 28th January 2023.
The two sides had already played out a draw at Vale Park back in September 2022. Charlie Brown’s stoppage-time penalty earned his side a share of the points as the game ended 2-2 at Vale Park.
When the sides met in Gloucestershire five months later it was another stalemate. Dennis Politic had the Cheltenham keeper at full stretch when he took aim from 25 yards. Aaron Donnelly then forced another good save when he fired a strike towards goal from 30 yards. Will Goodwin had the first chance for the hosts, but his header was well over the bar.
In the second half, Jak Stevens was on hand to save Alfie May’s close-range header after he latched onto a loose header from a Vale defender. The best chance of the game fell to Rory Holden in the last minutes of the game. Donnelly’s long throw was flicked on towards Holden, but he couldn’t divert his close-range header on goal and it clipped the top of the crossbar before going over.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 3-1 Cheltenham Town, Saturday 29th March 2013.
With the promotion race getting tight, this was a crucial fixture for both sides who were hoping to fill one of the three automatic spots at the end of the season.
At a snowy Vale Park, it was the Vale who took the lead inside 20 minutes when Tom Pope met a cross with one of his trademark headers to put his side ahead. Just after half time the scores were level when Kaid Mohamed reacted quickest to Byron Harrison’s saved effort to tap home into an empty net. Five minutes later the Robins went ahead when Paul Benson fired home from close range.
Cheltenham’s lead didn’t last long. Six minutes later Tom Pope levelled the game with a calm finish at the back post. Pope completed his hat-trick fifteen minutes from time when he broke the offside trap and calmly finished before famously taking his shirt off and diving into the snow. Pope’s hat-trick-sealing goal was his 30th goal of the season and it earned Vale a crucial three points on their way to promotion.