Two minute guide to Macclesfield Town v Port Vale
Port Vale travel to near-neighbours Macclesfield Town in their final fixture before Christmas…
Pre-match newsdesk
The news this week has been dominated by transfer window speculation – among other stories we’ve been told that Mark Sykes could be signing, Tom Pope’s contract is a priority and Aston Villa are potentially pondering a recall for Mitch Clark (right).
It’s small wonder that the game itself has been largely overlooked…
Quotes
“Every game is tough. If we don’t approach it correctly, we won’t get a result but the other side of the coin is that we’re capable of getting the result so it’s down to the players. We can’t underestimate any team because we’re not good enough where we can just turn up and expect to get a result. We have to go there and be positive…”
Port Vale manager Neil Aspin
“We’ll work as hard as we can like we have done. It’s just another game, but the next one for us is always the biggest one of the season. Obviously with it being local I am sure they will bring a few but we’ll have great support behind us. It’s bound to be a good game, we’ve got to be confident going into it and hopefully we can come out with another win…”
Macclesfield Town striker Harry Smith
“Sol describes himself as ‘one of the greatest minds in football’, so it would be great to go there and get a result.”
Port Vale goalkeeper Scott Brown
“Sol Campbell’s gone in – high profile – and he’s started off quite well so they’re picking up results. They’ll be confident after last week’s win, but like I said to you previously, if we’re at our best we’re more than capable of winning the game…”
Port Vale assistant manager Lee Nogan
Man in charge
You may just have hears of Macclesfield’s appointment of Sol Campbell. Self-proclaimed as ‘one of the greatest minds in football’ this is the ahem, brainbox’s third game in charge. So far, he has one win to his name.
Stats and facts
The two sides have met eleven times in competitive fixtures. It stands at six wins for Vale and four for Macc. The last match took place in 2012 when Adam Yates (right) scored the winner in a 1-0 Vale Park victory. In terms of away fixtures, Vale have won three of the five games to be played at the Moss Rose.
Featured connection
There are a healthy contingent of former Valiants in the Macclesfield squad including Danny Whitaker and Keith Lowe. However, our featured connection is midfielder Ryan Lloyd who has played 35 games for Macc since joining them in 2017. He left Vale in the same year after making just two starts in seven years at Vale Park.
Crossing the lines
There are a huge number of players who have played for both clubs in recent years including:
Winger Colin Daniel (right) who made 139 appearances for Macclesfield Town before later join Vale for a spell.
Giant defender John McCombe who spent a year at Macclesfield Town after departing Vale Park.
Diminutive midfielder Levi Reid who played for Macc after departing the Valiants.
Right-back George Abbey who joined Vale after leaving Macclesfield.