Port Vale will host Ryan Lowe’s Plymouth Argyle, at Vale Park this afternoon, as they look to keep their unbeaten home league run going. After suffering their second defeat of the season away at Newport County last week, the Valiants will be hoping they can bounce back with another win at home. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Plymouth Argyle
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 14th September 2019
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Marc Edwards
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: DDDWLWL
Top Goal Scorer(s): Richie Bennett (3 goals)
The last time Vale suffered a defeat this season was away at Grimsby and they responded in perfect fashion, picking up a 1-0 win over Cambridge United in their next game, and the Valiants will be aiming for that sort of response again.
John Askey has repeatedly made it clear that a strong home form is vital for this season and so far the team have been hitting that goal well, going three games unbeaten at home, and winning two of those games so far, a run that they will try and extend today.
The strength of Vale’s squad has been highlighted by Askey, with recent additions Jordan Archer and Jake Taylor already making an impact in the team. The gaffer has been given a further boost as winger Rhys Browne returned to training and travelled to Newport, making him a possible option today. Unfortunately Archer suffered an injury late on against Newport and joins Manny Oyeleke on the side-lines, but that aside, Askey has a fully fit squad to choose from.
"You want to make your home a fortress and you want teams coming here to be scared of playing teams like us at home. The fans can be the twelfth man and intimidate the opposition, we should be full of confidence as well with the way we've started."
Leon Legge, Port Vale Defender
Plymouth Argyle
Manager: Ryan Lowe
Form: WWLDWLD
Top Goal Scorer(s): Antoni Sarcevic(3 goals)
The Pilgrims are one of this seasons favourites to gain promotion to League One, having only been relegated last season and had a busy summer, bringing in 17 new faces, seven of which were previously playing in higher divisions.
They have had a varied start to their campaign this year, winning their opening fixtures, starting with a 3-0 win away at Crewe, before advancing to the second round of the Carabao Cup. They have since had a mixed bag of results and will look to get back to winning ways after three games without a victory.
Ryan Lowe will have a fully fit squad to choose from today, as Strikers Joel Grant and Dom Telford both returned to training this week, whilst defender Will Aimson is also back in contention for the game.
One to watch: Danny Mayor
The left-sided wide man, known as Danny ‘Hazard’ by Vale captain Tom Pope, joined the Pilgrims this summer from League One Bury following their unfortunate expulsion from the football league, and recorded an assist on his debut.
Mayor is a 28-year-old winger and was part of Ryan Lowe’s squad during his time at Bury, and they gained automatic promotion to League One last season.
Mayor began his career at Preston North End, where he made his debut in 2010 after a loan spell at Tranmere Rovers the year prior, then earning a move to Sheffield Wednesday where he would eventually go out on loan to Bury.
His successful loan spell earnt him a full time move to Gigg Lane where he would play 168 times for the Shakers, scoring 25 goals and winning the Sky Bet League Two Player of the Year award last season as they gained promotion.
Talk:
John Askey: “We feel as though we can match anybody, I know we lost at Newport but I felt we were a match for Newport, so it’s about on the day, it’s about us and if we perform we know we’ll get a result.”
Ryan Lowe: “We wanted competition for places, we’ve got that. The strikers, now there’s hopefully two or three in that pack of five that can score 20 goals, and that’s what we want.”
Coverage:
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute commentary from the match, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
There will also be the build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: officialpvfc
Reaction will be available on the official website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and social media.