Papa John’s Trophy action returns to Vale Park on tonight as the Valiants face Michael Duff’s Barnsley in the round of 32.

Vale flew through the group stage, winning all three of their fixtures, whilst Barnsley qualified second in their group on six points, just behind Lincoln City.

With tonight’s game fast approaching, we look into how both sides qualified from the group stages, and we also look at What our assistant manager, Andy Crosby, said in his pre-match press conference.

Crosby’s thoughts:

Our Assistant said: “When you get through the group stages as successfully as we did, with three different calibres of teams, that was the objective done and we moved on knowing that it would guarantee a home game.

“We have had three really good results with varying quality of performance and different groups of players, who have come into the team, whether that has been staying in the team from the previous game or coming back from injury, so there are a variety of things that we can do.

“I think out of all the teams that were left in the competition; it was probably the hardest game we could have got in terms of the draw, but we look forward to the game.”

How Vale qualified:

Matchday One: Port Vale 1-0 Stockport County

The Valiants kicked off their Papa John’s Trophy campaign with a victory thanks to a ferocious strike from former defender Chris Hussey.

Hussey, who now plays for County, smashed home a thunderstrike with just over 25 minutes left to play.

The game also saw a debut for Mipo Odubeko and academy graduate James Plant, who is currently on loan at Nantwich Town.

The result was a great way to start the group stage for the Vale, and it set them well on their way toward qualification.

Matchday Two: Shrewsbury Town 0-4 Port Vale

Dennis Politic netted a hattrick as Vale secured passage to the Papa Johns Trophy knockout stages with a convincing 4-0 victory away at Shrewsbury Town in the second round of fixtures.

Politic netted the first three goals of the night whilst Brad Walker added a fourth with a brilliant finish to cap off a wonderful night in Shropshire.

The victory meant qualification into the second round of the trophy was sealed, and the last match against Wolves U21s would be a shootout for the top spot.

Matchday Three: Port Vale 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21

The Vale maintained their 100% record in this season’s Papa Johns Trophy as late goals from Mal Benning and Mipo Odubeko sealed a 2-0 win against Wolves U21s at Vale Park.

The Valiants knocked at the door most of the match, and the resolve was finally broken when substitute Benning whipped a left-footed free-kick into Storer’s near post from the right of the penalty area in the 80^th minute.

Seven minutes later, Vale put the result beyond doubt when David Worrall, who was introduced from the bench alongside Benning, crossed for Odubeko to score his third goal of the season.

The result meant that the Valiants did not concede a single goal in the group phase, and qualified top of the group to secure a home fixture against Barnsley in the round of 32.

How the Reds qualified:

Matchday One: Barnsley 0-3 Lincoln City

Barnsley fell to a tough 3-0 defeat in their Papa Johns Trophy opener against Lincoln City at Oakwell in August.

A first-half brace from Teddy Bishop and a late goal from Jovon Makama, secured all three points for the visitors against an inexperienced Reds side.

Bishop’s first came after 15 minutes with Lincoln's first attack of the game after Charles Vernam fired in a low cross for the midfielder to slam home from six yards.

The Lincoln number 10’s second of the night came just two minutes later when Jack Walton misfired a clearance which fell to Bishop to loft into an empty net from 30 yards out.

Makama then sealed the points with the last kick of the game, tapping home from close range, meaning the Tykes had it all to do if they were to qualify for the next round.

Matchday Two: Barnsley 2-0 Newcastle United Under-21s

Barnsley netted two late goals to secure victory over the young Magpies to keep their Papa Johns Trophy qualification hopes alive.

Jake Butterfill’s effort and Ziyad Larkeche’s free-kick secured the points for the Tykes and meant they were still in the hunt of qualifying for the round of 32.

The Reds had to wait until the 79^th minute to break the deadlock, and it was Butterfill who did so when he powered home a strike from close range after the ball was deflected into his path.

Larkeche sealed the points for the home side six minutes later with a beautifully taken free kick which flew past the Newcastle goalkeeper and into the top left-hand corner.

Matchday Three: Doncaster Rovers 2-4 Barnsley

A first-half blitz from Barnsley saw them seal passage into the next round of the Papa Johns Trophy after an entertaining affair with local rivals Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium.

The Tykes netted four times in the first 34 minutes to stun Rovers, and despite a second-half brace from George Miller, they held on to secure qualification.

Josh Martin opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Fabio Jalo was slid through to square to forward to tap home.

Jalo then netted a brace in quick succession, his first goals for the club, with the first a strong strike from inside the area, and the second a brilliant finish after a sweeping move from the visitors.

Barnsley’s number 14 secured his brace with 34 minutes on the clock, latching onto a failed clearance, before creating space for himself to fire home his second, and the Tykes’ fourth.

Miller did net a brace in the second half to soften the thrashing with the first a deft finish, and the second a wonderful curling effort from 20 yards out.

However, the goals weren’t enough to stop the visitors from progressing to the next round of the trophy.

Final Group Stage Standings:

Both sides will be hungry to go far in this competition, and on Wednesday night we will be hoping Vale can continue their great run in this tournament, and reach the round of 16.