Port Vale will be looking to get back to winning ways when we travel to The Breyer Group Stadium to take on Leyton Orient on Saturday, in Darrell Clarke’s first match in charge of the Valiants.
Fixture: Leyton Orient vs Port Vale
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 20th February
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: The Breyer Group Stadium
Referee: Graham Salisbury
Port Vale
Manager: Darrell Clarke
Form: DLLWL
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (9 goals)
Darrell Clarke will be hoping to get his Port Vale tenure off to the best possible start, when we travel to the Breyer Group Stadium to face Leyton Orient on Saturday, where we will be looking to bounce back from defeat at Tranmere Rovers in our previous game.
After impressive spells at both Bristol Rovers and Walsall, Clarke comes with a good Sky Bet League Two pedigree, and he will hope that his positive reputation will continue to rise whilst in charge of the Vale.
The Valiants will also be hoping to avenge the 3-2 defeat we suffered against the O’s in December, despite dominating large periods of that particular match.
The match comes following a two-week spell without a game for the Valiants following last weekend’s match with Newport County at Vale Park having to be postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
Darrell Clarke will still be without striker Tom Pope as he remains sidelined with injury. Other than that, Clarke has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the clash with the O’s.
“The move for me, was the right move and the best opportunity for success because that is why I get up in the morning. I want to win games; I want to win promotions.”
Darrell Clarke, Port Vale Manager
Leyton Orient
Manager: Ross Embleton
Form: WWLLD
Top Goal Scorer: Danny Johnson (16 goals)
Having made a good start to the Sky Bet League Two season in terms of their play-off ambitions, Leyton Orient now sit in 10th place, part way into the second-half of the season.
The O’s recent form has seen a bit of a gap in terms of points appear between them and a play-off spot, with Ross Embleton’s side currently sitting five points behind the final play-off spot.
Orient also come into this game on the back of a postponement last week, with their match at Harrogate Town also falling victim to the weather.
One to watch: Danny Johnson
The 27-year-old forward has had a fantastic season so far, having scored 16 goals so far this campaign.
The striker from Middlesbrough, started his youth career at his hometown club before moving to local side Hartlepool United.
He has spent time abroad in Spain by joining Real Murcia’s B team in 2011, whilst also having permanent spells at Harrogate Town and Cardiff City, as well as spells in Scotland with Motherwell and Dundee before joining the O’s in 2020.
Johnson will be hoping he carry his impressive strike rate into the remainder of the season and fire Orient into a play-off spot come the end of the campaign.
Talk:
Darrell Clarke: “Obviously things haven’t gone so well this year and we’re going to work to try and get that moving. Myself, David and the owners are on the right path of moving forward, sometimes it takes a little bit of time, but we’re hoping to hit the ground running.”
Ross Embleton: “We’ve put our focus on individuals with Darrell being appointed the new manager, as it’s probably the only way you can prepare for the way that Vale are going to come to us at the weekend.”
Coverage:
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute coverage of the match for all domestic supporters, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
To purchase an iFollow match pass click here.
There will also be the build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: @officialpvfc
Reaction will be available on the website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and our official social media channels.