The Valiants are in EFL Trophy action on Tuesday night as we welcome Newcastle United U21’s to Vale Park.
Vale currently sit top of Group B after beating Crewe Alexandra in the first game of the group stage. Ben Garrity’s first half volley helped Vale to a 1-0 victory on the night.
The Valiants will be looking to bounce back after defeat on Saturday against Portsmouth in what is also the final game before this weekend’s international break.
Crosby’s Comments
When reacting to Saturday’s fixture, Crosby said:
“The frustrating thing from our point of view is that we’ve come here with a game plan to utilise the strengths of our players and we’ve got into really good areas and got into the final third and got balls into the box, but we have to be more clinical, we have to be more ruthless when you get those opportunities”
The Opposition
Newcastle United U21s suffered defeat in their opening game of the EFL trophy after they lost 1-0 at Wrexham. Sam Dalby scored the only goal of the game for the hosts when he found the net in the first half. The Young Magpies very much held their own against competitive opposition who were playing their first game since the reformat of the EFL Trophy.
The majority of the players in their U21s side represent the club in their PL2 campaign. They currently sit in 21st place in their lead with six points from their opening five games.
In their last outing, they faced Fleetwood Town U21s in the Premier League Cup, a late leveller from the Cod Army denied United all three points as the game ended 2-2.
Newcastle’s starting XI included Emil Krafth, a player who has made 54 appearances for the club's first team and 42 appearances for the Swedish national team.
Krafth suffered an ACL injury last season and so he’s making his way back to fitness, using the club's U21s fixtures to gain valuable game time.
Last time we met
Port Vale 2-1 Newcastle United U21s, Tuesday 12th November 2019.
The sides met in the group stage of the 2019/20 EFL Trophy and it was the Valiants who took all three points on the night.
Five minutes before the half time break, Mark Cullen opened the scoring for the Vale when he bundled home a rebound following Jordan Archer’s saved effort. Vale had keeper Jonny Maddison to thank in the first half as he made a number of crucial saves to maintain Vale’s lead going into the break.
Just after the restart, Vale looked to have doubled their lead when Rhys Browne got on the end of Jake Taylor’s quick free kick. Brown lofted the ball over the keeper, and it struck the underside of the bar before bouncing on the goal line.
Five minutes later, the visitors levelled when Elliot Anderson thundered home a header from close range following a cross from the right. These days, Anderson is ever present in the Magpies' matchday squad. He started in their 2-2 draw at the weekend against West Ham and also played 25 minutes of their Champions League fixture against PSG last week.
In the 87th minute of the game, the Vale regained the lead and it was Mark Cullen who grabbed his second goal of the night. He was played through by Jake Taylor before he rounded the onrushing keeper and slotted home into the empty net to help Vale to all three points
The Newcastle squad also consisted of a certain Lewis Cass who started the game back in 2019. The current Vale defender has since made over 50 appearances for the club in two separate spells at Vale Park.
How to Watch
Tickets for the fixture are available both online and from the club’s ticket office up until kick off.
Only the Lorne Street Stand is available to home supporters. The fixture is also available to stream on iFollow the Vale. You can purchase a video match pass for £10 by clicking here.