Two minute guide to: Athlone Town
Vale’s third friendly game of the summer is the now familiar trip to Ireland to take on Athlone Town. Here is our preview of the action…
Match details…
The match kicks off at 7:45pm at the appropriately named Athlone Town Stadium.
Last time we met…
The two sides met last summer and Vale came away 5-0 winners. The game was actually postponed for 24 hours after a downpour created a waterlogged pitch but when the game took place it was Tom Pope (right) who turned out to be the star of the show. In an early glimpse of his goalscoring prowess, Pope netted four times, including three goals in four minutes. The other Vale scorer was Louis Dodds.
Man in charge…
Former Carlisle Utd manager Roddy Collins is in charge at Athlone. He was appointed manager in November 2012.
Team news…
Vale are expected to welcome Lee Hughes (right) back to action after the veteran was rested for Vale’s first two friendly games. However, Dan Jones is still nursing an ankle injury and may not feature. New signing Chris Lines is expected to play some part in the game.
What they say…
“We’ve got two competitive games this week and we can really pick up the training now too.”
– Vale manager Micky Adams
“We’ll put out our strongest team and make sure we give them a good run.”
– Athlone manager Roddy Collins
Trivia
Athlone were the first football club from outside Dublin to compete in the Irish league. Their first domestic trophy win was the Irish FA Cup in 1924.