Saturday's game could prove to be an important milestone in the career of Tom Conlon, who could make his 150th appearance for the Vale in all competitions.

Conlon, who grew up in Porthill, joined the Valiants in 2018 from Stevenage, having previously played for Peterborough United, who had signed the Wolstanton High School graduate from Newcastle Town as a 16-year-old.

Four years on from returning ‘home’, and Conlon says achieving the feat – whether it is today or in the future – is an achievement he perhaps would not have anticipated when he arrived at Vale Park in the summer of 2018.

He said: “If someone had said that [I’d hit 150 appearances] to me the moment I walked through the doors of this football club then I’d of snapped their hand off.

“It is something that I’m really pleased with and really proud of.”

Throughout the time the midfielder has been at the club, he has seen many changes, including a change in ownership, two managerial changes and a growth that sees the Vale going into today’s match on the back of a solid start in League One with an average home attendance of over 8,500 – the largest for 27 years.

Reflecting on his time at the club so far, he said: “It has been really interesting and I have loved every minute, and I really do mean that.

“It has been under different owners and different managers when the club was in a completely different place, but it was something I needed in my career, to just come into a Football League club and play some games, and I did that in my first season.

“Now you look at where the club is in terms of the league, where it is with the owners, with the manager, the staff, it is in a better place and I am loving being here.”

If you want to hear more from our skipper on 150 games for the Vale, the full interview will be on page 14 of this weekend’s matchday programme for the fixture against Forest Green Rovers, priced at just £3.