Port Vale travel to bottom-club side Barnet tonight in hope of replicating Saturday’s good performance into three points in North London.
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Fixture: Barnet vs Port Vale
Date: Tuesday 13th March 2018
Kick-off: 8pm
Venue: The Hive Stadium
Preview
It’s two consecutive away games in a week for Port Vale after travelling to Grimsby Town on Saturday, Vale will make the trip towards North London to face bottom side Barnet.
The Valiants remain without a win in 2018, but will hope to amend that issue tonight with a vital three points at The Hive Stadium. The Bees had started to put some bright performances together over the last few games but have only still won two from 14.
Neil Aspin’s men will also look to take in Saturday’s bright performance into tonight’s encounter after impressing throughout the game, until the last minute where Grimsby stole a last-gasp equaliser.
The Opposition
Barnet have experienced a tough season so far, finding themselves bottom of the Football League. They are seven points behind The Valiants with Chesterfield finding themselves between the two.
With a victory, The Bees could climb to 23rd in the division closing the possibility of relegation.
Manager Graham Westley took charge at The Hive Stadium during January where he would go on to defeat Notts County and scrape a draw with Lincoln City in his first few weeks.
One to Watch – Shaquile Coulthirst
The Barnet attacker is so far The Bees’ top goalscorer with eight goals this campaign. After predominantly playing on either wing, Coulthirst became a key member for the squad earlier on in the season.
Throughout the course of September and October, the 23-year old notched seven goals in eight games, including a hat-trick against Swindon Town during the 4-1 win.
Coulthirst has previously played for the likes of Peterborough United, Mansfield Town, Wigan Athletic, York City, Southend United, Torquay United and Leyton Orient after being on the books at Tottenham Hotspur.
Team News
Vale will still be without top goalscorer Tom Pope as he recovers from his recent surgery. Antony Kay and Rob Lainton both remain a doubt as Adam Yates and Kjell Knops remain long-term casualties.
The hosts could see the return of Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro for tonight’s game but will still be without Elliott Johnson, Harry Taylor and Dave Tarpey. Richard Brindley still remains a doubt.
Talk
Neil Aspin: “They are as much as a threat as any other team in the league and it's a big relegation battle, there's no doubt about that and we've got to be up for the challenge."
Graham Westley: “I don’t think that (Vale) will be one of the sides that go down, on that basis, they aren’t the side that we have to go and catch. They have a enough experience in their squad to grind out a performance and get results.”
Coverage
Follow The Vale will be providing full 90 minute commentary from the match, while the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feed will be providing live updates for the entirety.
There will also be build-up to the game with the official Snapchat account: officialpvfc.
Reaction will be available on the official website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and social media.