Two minute guide to: Oldham Athletic (H)
Will Port Vale make if four wins and four clean sheets in a row on Tuesday evening?
Port Vale
Manager: Rob Page
Last match: 1-0 vs Notts County
Form guide: W-W-W-L-D
Oldham Athletic
Manager: Dean Holden (interim)
Last match: 0-4 vs Preston
Form guide: L-L-L-W-W
Team news
Colin Daniel: set for bench duty?
There would be no great surprise if Vale named yet another unchanged line-up as manager Rob Page tends to stick with a winning side. However, with loanees Tommy O’Sullivan and Greg Luer departing there is room on the bench with Colin Daniel and Achille Campion favourites to join the subs.
Conor Wilkinson, Jacob Mellis and Carl Winchester and top scorer Jonathan Forte could all return from injury for the visitors.
Possible Vale starting XI:
Neal
Veseli – Inniss – Robertson – Dickinson (c)
Moore – O’Connor – Brown – Marshall
Pope – Williamson
Pre-match quote
“If we can get more bodies through the door, come and watch us, come and support us, come and give us your vocal support and play a part in us hopefully climbing up the league again then let’s do it.”
– Rob Page
Last time we met
Tom Pope: last Vale player to score against Oldham
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw earlier in the season with striker Tom Pope opening the scoring after just eight minutes.
Overall record
- Vale wins: 31
- Oldham wins: 27
- Draws: 14
Trivia
Chris Robertson: fifty up?
- This match could mark Chris Robertson’s 50th league start for Port Vale.
- Vale’s new parsimonious defence may be the talk of Burslem but the Valiants have kept just one clean sheet in their last five games against the Latics.
- A reminder that tonight’s game forms part of a ticket offer – with reduced prices if you buy tickets for this game and the match against Crawley. Find out more details through this link
They played for both…
Featured connections:
In 2008, midfielder Danny Whitaker controversially turned down a new Vale contract to join Oldham. He spent two years at Boundary Park before being released and joining Chesterfield.
Striker Chris Killen had a prolific loan spell at Vale (six goals in nine games) in 2001 before he joined Oldham on a permanent basis in 2002.
Some other players to appear for both sides include:
- Left-winger Paul Edwards
- Striker Darren Beckford
- Midfielder Jon Bowden
- Left-back Russell Bromage
- Striker Marc Richards
- Striker Lee Hughes
- Striker Leon Constantine
- Striker Jim Steel
Did you know…
One of Vale’s most controversial transfers took place between the Valiants and Oldham – although few current supporters will remember it.
In 1929, Stewart Littlewood was one of the club’s most-prized assets. The 24 year-old had just hit nine goals in the club’s last ten games but (as usual) the cash-strapped Vale opted to sell. Littlewood was sold to Oldham Athletic in exchange for £1,800 and Albert Pynager.
However, the experienced Pynegar (who was 33 years old when he joined Vale) proved to be something of a canny signing. Pynegar was partnered with tall target man Sam Jennings and the pair ran riot the following season. Jennings hit 27 goals while Pynegar netted 22 in 33 games as the club secured the Third Division (North) title in 1930.
Pynegar would finish his Vale career with 34 goals in 53 games and there was even a happy ending for Littlewood with Vale snapping him up for a second spell in 1931. He stayed for two years during which he broke the club goalscoring record by netting six during a 9-1 thrashing of Chesterfield.