Second and third in the Sky Bet League Two table meet this evening as the Valiants welcome Bradford City to Vale Park.
The Valiants come into the game off the back of a 1-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra on Saturday. Jayden Stockley’s 86th-minute header earned the Valiants all three points in front of over 1600 travelling supporters as Vale bounced back from a disappointing defeat in midweek.
Gaffer's Thoughts
Here’s what Darren Moore had to say following Saturday’s victory:
"A local derby and it was probably the right type of game in terms of the atmosphere and the magnitude of the game for both clubs. It’s three valuable points for us and, for them, there is still all to play for.
“I pointed to the supporters at the end. The players fought for each other and wanted to show a committed performance. I thought the away fans showed that. It’s a tremendous away following and I and the boys are just pleased we have sent them on the short journey home with the three points.
“Everybody connected with the club played their part today. At the end, I was so overjoyed. It was a job well done.”
The Gaffer also spoke ahead of tonight’s fixture:
“It’s another important game on Tuesday. We’ll get ready and prepare for that game. In the last seven days we have late strikes against Morecambe and then a late strike at Crewe, what it shows from the boys is their commitment and endeavour to keep going.”
“We know the result wasn’t right on Tuesday and we hit the crossbar and post on four different occasions. If you’re going to hit the woodwork, you’re in the right areas and on another day they go in.”
“It’s just a matter of us keeping going right till the very end and that’s what we want from the players and hopefully the supporters have seen that this season that we have a never-say-die attitude.”
The Opposition
Bradford City currently sit 2nd in League Two, one point behind leaders, Walsall. The Bantams have been excellent since the turn of the year, rising up the league and applying the pressure on Walsall who could lose their place at the top of table despite being 12 points clear at one stage.
Since Bradford’s 2-1 victory over the Valiants on Boxing Day they have gone onto win twelve of their last eighteen games which has seen them rise from 10th in the league and close a fifteen-point gap on Walsall to just one point.
Despite Bradford’s impressive league position, they haven’t been great on the road this season, winning just five of their nineteen away fixtures. They have picked up one point in their last two away fixtures which came on Saturday when they drew 0-0 with Accrington Stanley.
Who’s in Charge?
Former Burnley and Preston North End defender Graham Alexander is the current manager of Bradford City. The 53-year-old joined the Bantams in November 2023 following the departure of Mark Hughes.
After taking the reins three months into the 2023/24 season, Alexander guided his side to a ninth-placed finish where they missed out on the play-offs by one point.
Prior to taking the Bradford role, Alexander has accumulated just over 450 games as a manager in the EFL, in this time he’s won five Manager of The Month awards and won two promotions, one from League Two and one from the National League.
So far in Alexander’s tenure at Valley Parade, he has taken charge of 84 games where he has won 42, drawn 19 and lost 22 giving him a win percentage of just over 50%
Player to Watch
After Andy Cook was ruled out for the season, Bradford were expected to fall off the pace. However, they have defied expectations and kicked on which is partly down to the goals that Callum Kavanagh has scored. The 21-year-old has scored nine goals in all competitions and got five assists from his forward role.
Richie Smallwood has been the standout player for Bradford this season. The experienced midfielder has played every minute of every league game this season and has played a pivotal in his side's rise up the league table
During the first half of the season, Smallwood was partnered by Antoni Sarcevic, but after he picked up a potentially season-ending injury, Alex Pattinson has filled in and enjoyed a successful season. Pattinson is returning from his own injury and after playing half an hour on Saturday he will be expected to feature tonight.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 2-1 Bradford City, Saturday 24th April 2021.
Vale’s Boxing Day defeat ended a run of five games unbeaten against Bradford. The last time the sides met at Vale was in Vale’s last promotion season when the sides drew 1-1 in front of the Sky Sports cameras. However, earlier that year the Valiants won 2-1 in the curtailed Covid season.
Bradford took the lead in the 14th minute when Andy Cook latched onto a long ball before squaring for Clayton Donaldson to convert from close range.
However, this lead didn’t last long as Vale hit back just two minutes later. Luke Joyce’s low cross fell to the feet of Theo Robinson who took a touch before calmly slotting past the keeper.
Just after the half-hour mark Vale were gifted the chance to go ahead when Ollie Crankshaw pushed Nathan Smith in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Tom Conlon stepped up for the Valiants and dispatched his penalty to earn Vale all three points.
Ref Watch
Ben Toner has been appointed as the referee for this evening’s fixture. He will be assisted by Danny Jarvis and Richard Wigglesworth. Declan Ford is the fourth official.
Toner has taken charge of 33 games this season, ranging from the FA Cup Third Round to League Two. He took charge of our 4-1 Vertu Trophy defeat against Wrexham in February. The last time he took charge of a Vale league game was our 2-1 home defeat against Shrewsbury Town in March last year.
