90 second guide to: Tranmere Rovers
As it’s the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, we present a shorter than usual guide to our opponents with our ninety second guide.
Reminder:
The game kicks off on “JPT time”, which means a 7:15pm kick-off.
Man in charge:
Ronnie Moore is back for his third spell at Rovers. Moore has managed over 700 games including a lengthy spell at Rotherham United.
Last time we met:
Vale’s defeat in the same competition (1-1, 4-2 on pens) was overshadowed by an horrific injury to Lewis Haldane. The winger is thankfully on the road to recovery from his double leg fracture.
Overall record:
Tranmere have won 37 times, Vale have won 28 times and there have been 23 draws. Vale’s last win at home over Tranmere was back in 2004. The League One match ended 3-1 to Vale thanks to a Chris Birchall double and a Billy Paynter strike.
Form:
Apart from a Capital One loss to Aston Villa, Rovers are unbeaten this season. On Saturday they thrashed Colchester United 4-0.
Man to watch:
Abdulai Bell-Baggie could face the Valiants, for whom he had a (very) brief spell on loan. Bell-Baggie made one start (ironically in the JPT) and four sub appearances for the Valiants. After spells with Crawley and Yeovil, the 20 year-old drifted off into non-league until Tranmere signed him from Salisbury in the summer.
Connections:
Chris Shuker could make an appearance against a Rovers side for whom he made over 100 appearances. Other players to appear for both sides include John Williams, Graham Barnett, Graham Williams, Tyrone LOran and Adnam Ahmed.
Team news:
Vale may use the opportunity to give Gareth Owen, Adam Yates Rob Taylor and Ryan Burge some first-team action
Tranmere have already said that they will make changes with Danny Harrison and Max Power (yes, really) set to feature.
Trivia:
We’re definitely hoping the action will be more exciting than watching paint dry. But should you be doing some DIY while listening to the match here’s some handy (and somewhat patronising) advice from cup sponsors Johnstone’s Paints: “One coat isn’t always enough so it is recommended that you have a cup of tea, or ten, while you wait for it to dry to see if it needs another coat. You’ll know that it needs another coat if it looks patchy and you can still see the previous coat underneath. Most importantly, make sure you enjoy it – pop the radio on and add a little fun to decorating!”