Match Preview: Bradford City v Port Vale, 22nd October 2019
Can Port Vale bounce back from a poor home performance against Stevenage and pick up any points on the road against Bradford City?
On t’net
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Team news
It will be interesting to see what changes are made after the disappointing draw against Stevenage. Vale may think two games in four games may be too much for Cristian Montano (right) after his return from injury while John Askey will have to pick between James Gibbons and Will Atkinson at right-back and Tom Pope and Richie Bennett upfront.
Stats
The last meeting was back in February 2017 when the Valiants lost 2-1 at Vale Park. JJ Hooper (pictured right) was the scorer of the last Vale goal against the Bantams. The last Vale visit to Bradford ended in a 0-0 draw in Bruno Ribeiro’s first game as Vale manager.
Overall, Bradford have won 44 times compared to Vale’s 32 and there have been 31 draws. Vale’s last win at Bradford was back in 2012 when Tom Pope scored the winner in a 1-0 win. There have been four visits to Yorkshire for the Vale since that win.
Opposition Guide
Experienced Gary Bowyer is the manager at Bradford. He’s won ten of his 28 games in charge. Upfront the experienced James Vaughan has three goals so far this season while Eoin Doyle has two. Richard O’Donnell is the regular goalkeeper with Kelvin Mellor a regular selection ahead of the stopper. Ominously for Vale, Bradford have won three games in a row.
Connections
Recent Vale signing Will Atkinson is set to play against a club for whom he made 69 appearances. Atkinson spent two years (from 2011 to 2013) at Valley Parade. The last transfer between the two sides was Sam Hornby (right) who rejected a Vale contract offer in the summer to join Bradford. Hornby will not be involved on Tuesday as he is on loan with AFC Fylde of the National League.
Pre-match quote
It’s a game that as a player you should be looking forward to, its going to be a decent crowd and they’re a team that are expected to go up.
“As you say we can go there relaxed and hopefully we can cause a bit of an upset and if we can do that, we will be even closer to the play-offs.
“It provides competition , we’re doing okay, like I say it’s a sticky period but we’ve lost one in five games, the supporters, myself, everybody at the football club, we’re expecting to do better this season…
Port Vale manager John Askey (right)
Memory match
Port Vale’s first game back in the second flight for over thirty years took place at Valley Parade in 1989. Played in front of a crowd of 10,242, it ended 2-2 with the Vale goals coming from Dean Glover (a penalty) and prolific striker Darren Beckford (pictured right).