A look ahead to tonight's game here at Vale Park

Vale take on Rochdale here at Vale Park this evening in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – kick off 7.30pm

Having beaten League Two opposition in the last round of the competition, Val will be favourites to progress into the next round, but as we saw against Bury, we could well be in for a tough game.

Rochdale come into the game on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Portsmough in League Two and boss Keith Hill will be urging his side to show him what they can do.

The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is a competition that not all clubs take seriously, but it is the only realistic chance most lower league clubs will get to play at Wembley Stadium, should they make it to the final.

Vale have never lost to Rochdale in 25 games, winning 13 and drawing 12 of their matches on home soil, but of course that will mean absolutely nothing tonight.

Will Vale make multiple changes like they did in the previous round? Up to five are permitted by competition rules, so Vale are likely to make at least one or two, with the home game against Peterborough on Saturday in mind.

Who comes in and who is left out is anybody’s guess, but it may be a good opportunity to give defender Daniel Jones his first taste of first team football after a spell out through injury.

Jones played for the reserves against Morecambe last Wednesday and is back to full training now and he will be an important member of the Vale squad in weeks to come.

Boss Micky Adams will be back for tonight’s game too. He watched from the stands on Saturday, but went down into the changing room at half time to add a few words of wisdom.

On crutches, it is highly unlikely that the gaffer will be back in the dugout just yet and Rob Page, along with Mark Grew, is still in charge of first team affairs until the manager decides the time is right for a return.

In the mean time, there is a job to be done on the pitch tonight and that is the only important factor. Can Vale progress? Why not come along and see for yourself?