The Valiants hit the road on Saturday as we head to the WHAM stadium to face Accrington Stanley.
Darren Moore's side come into the game off the back of our first home win of the season against Chesterfield on Saturday. Ethan Chislett’s ninth-minute goal was enough to secure our second win in as many games as the Vale jumped into 8th place in the league.
Gaffer's Thoughts
Here’s what Darren Moore had to say following Saturday’s victory:
“The most important thing was getting three points in front of our home fans. We have had three really difficult teams here, but we managed to get it done today.”
“It was a closely-fought game. We took our chance in the first half and then the second half was evenly fought. I thought we shaded the game and deserved it on balance.”
“We saw a committed team performance against excellent opposition. They will certainly be there or thereabouts; Paul Cook has done tremendous work with his players so we knew we had to be at our best. Even though it was 1-0, I thought it was an entertaining game.”
The Gaffer also spoke to the press ahead of our trip to Accrington Stanley:
“We’ve got a style and a methodology in terms of when we look at the opposition and it’ll be no different to Accrington. We’re absolutely focused on Accrington; we know it’s a difficult environment to go to.
"They’re a difficult team to play and we see signs in Accrington that despite the results, they are improving. The season hasn’t settled down yet so still people are finding their feet and we know that we need to be at our absolute level best.”
The Opposition
Accrington currently sit in 23rd place in Sky Bet League Two after picking up just two points in their first six league games. Their points have come in the form of two score draws against Harrogate Town and Colchester United where they drew 3-3 & 1-1.
In their last outing, they were beaten 1-0 by Crewe Alexandra at the WHAM Stadium. Despite having the majority of possession throughout the match, Zac Williams’ close-range strike five minutes from time was enough to succumb Stanley to their fourth league loss of the campaign.
Stanley have conceded the joint-highest number of goals in the league after leaking 14 goals in six games. They have only found the net six times which leaves them with a -8 goal difference at this early stage of the season.
Who’s in Charge?
John Doolan took over the reins at The Wham Stadium after John Coleman left the club in March 2024 after a ten-year stint in the dugout. During this time, Doolan was a key part of Coleman’s backroom staff and has since made the step up to manager.
This is Doolan’s first permanent role in men’s management. He has previously been assistant manager at clubs such as Wigan Athletic, Hibernian and Rotherham.
Player to Watch - Shaun Whalley
The 37-year-old veteran EFL winger has been a shining light for Stanley in what has been a tough start to the season. Whalley has started every game for his side and has picked up two assists and scored one goal so far this season. His solitary goal came against Newport County when he scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute.
Accrington’s top scorers are Tyler Walton and Kelsey Mooney who are on two goals so far. Both players joined from National League North sides in the summer with Walton joining from Southport and Mooney joining from Play Off winners, Boston United.
Fixture Throwback
Accrington Stanley 1-2 Port Vale, Saturday 13th April 2010
The WHAM Stadium hasn’t exactly been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Vale in recent years with Vale not winning in the last five attempts.
The last time we picked up all three points was way back in 2010 when two goals either side of half time helped Micky Adams’ Valiants win 2-1.
Vale took the lead in the 35th minute when Craig Davies ran onto Doug Loft’s through ball before finishing expertly into the top corner. Seven minutes after the break, the hosts levelled when Bobby Grant volleyed home from 30 yards out.
The winning goal came 25 minutes from time when Kris Taylor thundered a strike from the best part of 40 yards into the back of the net to earn Vale all three points in Lancashire in emphatic fashion.