Port Vale will be hoping to pick up our second win on the bounce in Danny Pugh’s second game of interim charge, when we travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland in the last 16 of the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday evening. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Sunderland vs Port Vale
Competition: Papa John’s Trophy
Date: Tuesday 12th January
Kick-Off: 6:00 pm
Venue: Stadium of Light
Referee: Declan Bourne
Port Vale
Manager: Danny Pugh
Form: LLDLW
Top Goal Scorer: Devante Rodney (7 goals)
Danny Pugh will be hoping his side can pick off from where they left off against Grimsby Town on Saturday, when we face Sky Bet League One side Sunderland in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday.
After putting an end to our recent poor run of results with an emphatic 3-0 victory at the weekend, confidence will be high ahead of a tough test against one of the favourites for promotion from Sky Bet League One.
A win at Sunderland would mean that the Valiants would be just two wins away from a spot in the Trophy final at Wembley, so there will be enough motivation for Pugh’s side to try and secure a victory up north.
Pugh has no new injury concerns to contend with from Saturday, with James Gibbons still unavailable despite progressing well from his hamstring injury suffered in October.
“The Stadium of Light is a great place to go and play, and it’s going to be a tough test against a very good side.”
Danny Pugh, Port Vale Interim Manager
Grimsby Town
Manager: Lee Johnson
Form: WWDDD
Top Goal Scorer: Charlie Wyke (7 goals)
Sunderland have had a mixed bag of results since the start of the season, which sees them lying in 10th place in the Sky Bet League One table.
Though promotion may be the goal for the Black Cats, they would not shirk at the opportunity for a trip to Wembley in the Papa John’s Trophy, a final in which they reached in 2019, though they did lose to Portsmouth on penalties.
The Black Cats finished second in their Papa John’s Trophy group, toppling the Aston Villa U21’s and Carlisle United, before losing at Fleetwood Town to relinquish top spot.
A 2-1 victory at Oldham Athletic in the last 32 stage of the competition secured Lee Johnson’s side the opportunity to play Vale in the last 16 of the competition on Tuesday evening.
One to watch: Charlie Wyke
Local lad Charlie Wyke has been Sunderland’s main attacking outlet this season, with the 28-year-old striker scoring seven goals so far for the Black Cats.
Having come through Middlesbrough’s academy in 2011, he had loan spells at Kettering Town, AFC Wimbledon and two separate spells at Hartlepool United before eventually departing the Riverside Stadium for Carlisle United in January 2015.
32 goals in 77 appearances for the Cumbrians was enough to convince Bradford City to sign him on January deadline day in 2017, where he spent 18 months.
Wyke jumped at the opportunity to join Sunderland in August 2018, where he has scored 16 goals in 67 appearances for the Black Cats, and he will be hoping that his goals can fire Lee Johnson’s side back up to the Sky Bet Championship this season.
Talk:
Danny Pugh: “We want to get into the habit of winning games again, we won at the weekend and we want to maintain that momentum.”
Jamie McAllister: “I think it's an important competition for us and it's a game we're going in to win.”
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.