Port Vale play our second of three home games in a row this weekend, as we welcome Bolton Wanderers to Vale Park. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Bolton Wanderers
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 13th March
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Craig Hicks
Port Vale
Manager: Darrell Clarke
Form: DLLLD
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (9 goals)
The Valiants will be hoping to build on Tuesday’s clean sheet and point against Oldham Athletic with a positive result against an in-form Bolton Wanderers side on Saturday.
Despite having the better of the encounter with the Latics on Tuesday evening, the Valiants will feel that despite gaining a well-earned point, we had done enough to take maximum points from the encounter.
On Saturday, we face an in-form Bolton side, but the Valiants have already ended Bolton’s winning run once this season back in December, when goals from six different goalscorers in Manny Oyeleke, Leon Legge, Tom Conlon, Cristian Montano, David Worrall and Nathan Smith secured a sensational 6-3 win for the Valiants at the University of Bolton Stadium.
That particular game ended a five-match losing streak for Vale, and ended a five-match winning run for the Trotters, so the Valiants will be hoping that history repeats itself at the weekend.
Three points against the Wanderers could see Darrell Clarke’s side climb up to 19th, overtaking Colchester United and Walsall should results go in our favour at the weekend, and Clarke will be hoping that his side will find that clinical nature in front of goal, to produce a result.
“Professionalism is something I pride myself on. We want to work hard, we want to enjoy working hard and implement a winning culture around the place, and it’s important that we get the balance of that spot on.”
Darrell Clarke, Port Vale Manager
Bolton Wanderers
Manager: Ian Evatt
Form: WWWDW
Top Goal Scorer: Eoin Doyle (14 goals)
After a well-publicised poor start to the campaign, Bolton’s form has been almost flawless since the beginning of February, with a run of nine matches without defeat (including seven wins) catapulting the Trotters up to seventh place, where they currently occupy the final play-off berth.
Ian Evatt’s side were favourites for promotion at the beginning of the campaign, and their impressive run of form means they still have a fighting chance of securing one of those automatic promotion spots come the end of the season.
However, the Valiants have experience of producing a shock result against the Trotters, and will be hoping that they can provide another positive result against Ian Evatt’s side on Saturday.
One to watch: Eoin Doyle
Last season’s Sky Bet League Two top-scorer joined the Trotters from Swindon Town in the summer transfer window at the start of the season, with the expectation that he would be the focal point of Bolton’s attacks.
And the 32-year-old hasn’t disappointed this campaign, currently sitting as Bolton’s top scorer with 14 goals for the season, whilst he sits fifth in the overall Sky Bet League Two standings.
The Irishman started his senior career at Shelbourne in his homeland in 2006, before spells at Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers led to a move to the Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in December 2011, where he stayed for two years.
Following his spell at Hibs, he moved south of the border to England where he signed for Chesterfield in May 2013, before impressive goalscoring spells at Cardiff City, Preston North End, Bradford City and Swindon Town followed amongst others, before he eventually signed for his current club in July 2020.
Talk:
Darrell Clarke: “Bolton have totally changed their system since the last time we played them, they’ve had a massive amount of success with that, and they are moving in the right direction, so we’re under no illusions that this is going to be a very tough test, but we’ll be looking to put on a performance that’ll get us the three points.”
Ian Evatt: “We remember and respect the game that we played out with each other in December, and we’ve evolved as a team, but that result has to be some part of our motivation.”
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.