Two minute guide to: Swindon (A)
Port Vale’s final opponents of 2014 are in-form Swindon – here is our brief guide to our next opponents…
Port Vale
Manager: Rob Page
Last match: 2-1 vs Sheff Utd
Form guide: W-W-L-D-L
Swindon
Manager: Mark Cooper
Last match: 4-1 vs Walsall
Form guide: W-L-W-W-W
Team news
Ben Williamson: scored against Sheff Utd
Rob Page is likely to keep faith with the side that defeated Sheffield United, which means that Ben Williamson will continue as the lone striker. Midfielder Chris Lines and striker Achille Campion will both probably have to be content with places on the bench.
Meanwhile, Swindon boss Mark Cooper has hinted at changes for the Vale game. “We always had the two games in mind with two different opponents,” he told the club’s official website. “We looked at the two fixtures and targeted different players for different games. We have to make sure we pick the right team for Sunday. All three are contributing at the moment.”
Possible Vale starting XI:
Neal
Yates – Veseli – Duffy – Dickinson
Marshall – Brown – O’Connor – N’Guessan
Dodds
Williamson
Pre-match quote
“Two wins back-to-back now, we’ve got to take confidence going into Swindon, who are an extremely good team, and we’ve got to be at our very best if we want to get something out of the game…”
– Rob Page
Last time we met
Tom Pope: scored Vale’s last goal versus Town but misses this game
Vale lost out in a five goal thriller at Vale Park in February. Doug Loft and Tom Pope scored for Vale but goals from Nile Ranger, Alex Pritchard and Nathan Byrne.
Overall record
- Vale wins: 28
- Swindon wins: 28
- Draws: 18
Trivia
Despite Vale’s poor recent record, historically the two sides’ stats are dead level with 28 wins apiece.
Talking of that poor recent record, Vale have lost the last five games between the two sides.
Vale have conceeded a whopping sixteen goals in their last three visits to the County Ground.
Vale’s last win at the County Ground came in 2005 when Micky Bell and Chris Cornes (right) scored in a 2-1 Vale win.
They played for both…
Dany N’Guessan: set to face his former club
Forward Dany N’Guessan will be returning to his former club. The Frenchman scored eight goals for Town including one against the Vale. Winger Mark Marshall also spent a short spell with Swindon earlier in his career. A third Vale player, Kaid Mohamed, also played for Swindon but as he is on loan at Northampton, he won’t feature in this match.
Other players to appear for both sides include:
- Striker Billy Paynter
- Defender Tim Parkin (right)
- Striker Ken Beamish
- Winger Ian Miller
- Striker Calvin Andrew