Port Vale face another difficult test against the Sky Bet League Two table toppers, when we travel to The Johnny-Rocks Stadium to take on Cheltenham Town on Saturday. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Cheltenham Town vs Port Vale
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 6th March
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: The Johnny-Rocks Stadium
Referee: Robert Lewis
Port Vale
Manager: Darrell Clarke
Form: LDDLL
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (9 goals)
The Valiants will be looking to bounce back from our mid-week defeat at Salford City, with a positive result at league leaders Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
A win at the weekend could put us up to 19th in the league should results on Saturday also go in our favour.
We have already tasted success against the Robins this season, after goals from Leon Legge and David Worrall secured a 2-1 comeback victory at Vale Park earlier on in the campaign.
We also went unbeaten on our two visits to Cheltenham last season, with a Tom Pope hat-trick completing a memorable turnaround in a 3-1 FA Cup second round victory in December 2019, whilst we played out a 0-0 stalemate at The Johnny Rocks-Stadium last March, our final game of the season before the suspension of professional football in the United Kingdom.
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke has stressed the need to be more clinical in front of goal whilst remaining solid at the back, and he will be hoping that this can come to fruition for us on Saturday.
“The four games we’ve played haven’t been at the quality levels we’ve wanted, but all of them could have gone either way as well. The fans are well aware of where we’re at.”
Darrell Clarke, Port Vale Manager
Cheltenham Town
Manager: Michael Duff
Form: WLWWW
Top Goal Scorer: Alfie May (9 goals)
It has been a fantastic season for Michael Duff’s side heading into the final third of the season, with the Robins putting last season’s play-off heartbreak behind them to sit top of the league with 15 games of their season remaining, and be in the driving seat for an automatic promotion spot to Sky Bet League One.
The Robins have been a force throughout the season and have always been in and around the automatic/play-off spots since the start of the campaign, coming on top of a run to the FA Cup third round, where they were knocked out by current Premier League leaders Manchester City.
A run of seven wins out of nine league games has propelled the Robins from a play-off spot to the top of the league, but the Valiants will be eager to put a dent in their promotion hopes at the weekend.
One to watch: Alfie May
The 27-year-old striker sits as the Robins top goalscorer so far this campaign, having scored 9 goals and providing 6 assists along the way, making him the highest contributor of goals for Michael Duff’s side.
May spent the majority of his early career flitting around the English non-league scene, playing for clubs such as Corinthian, Billericay Town, Chatham Town, VCD Athletic, Erith & Belvedere and Hythe Town between the years of 2012 and 2017.
Following a trial at Stevenage in October 2016, he eventually made the step up to professional football in January 2017, when he signed for Sky Bet League Two side Doncaster Rovers, scoring 10 goals in 92 appearances in the three years he spent with Rovers.
In January 2020 he joined current side Cheltenham Town, where he has grown into arguably the side’s most important player, playing a critical role in their aim of promotion.
Talk:
Darrell Clarke: “Cheltenham are one of the better teams in the division for me and it’ll be our toughest test so far. We know it’s going to be a challenge but we’ve got to make sure we’re going to be tough to beat and we’ve got to start showing more quality in the final third.”
Wade Elliott (Cheltenham Town First Team Coach): "Vale could come and do anything on Saturday. We know they’ve got good individuals and we know that they’ll look to get after us and press and they’ll have a right go."
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.