Match Preview: Cheltenham Town versus Port Vale, 7th March 2020
It’s arguably one of the most crucial games of the season as Port Vale take on promotion chasing Cheltenham Town away. Here’s our match preview feature.
Essentials
When and where
Man in charge
Team News: Double doubt for Valiants
The Valiants have doubts over the fitness of both Cristian Montano and Mark Cullen. Should Montano not make it, loanee Mitch Clark is set to be recalled at left-back. Veteran Tom Pope, who scored a hat-trick against Cheltenham in the FA Cup earlier this season, would be favourite to replace Cullen.
Experienced defender Shaun Brisley is ruled out but defender Adam Crookes will be on the bench to offer cover to regular central defensive pairing Nathan Smith and Leon Legge.
Pre-match quote
They’re [Cheltenham] a strong team, they’re the form team at the moment, but we have gone there and won, we were unlucky not to beat them at home so we’re more than capable of getting a result against them….
Manager John Askey
Head-to-head
First Meeting
Last Vale win
Overall record
Away form against Cheltenham
Form
D
D
W
W
W
W
W
W
Opposition Guide
Cheltenham have had an excellent season in which they have emerged as genuine promotion candidates. The Robins have been managed by former defender Michael Duff since 2018. The 42 year-old has a near 40% win percentage.
The experienced Scott Flinders lines up in goal and there’s experience further up the pitch in midfielder Ben Tozer along with forwards Luke Varney and Reuben Reid. The goals have been shared around the side but Ryan Broom is the top league scorer with eight so far.
Played for both
It will be another return to Whaddon Road for veteran Port Vale goalkeeper Scott Brown. The 34 year-old joined the Valiants in 2016 but spent nine years at Cheltenham as well as a further loan spell shortly before joining the Valiants. Brown is now closing on a hundred appearances for the Valiants.
Charlie Raglan
Ryan Inniss
Tony Naylor
Classic clash
We can’t really feature any other game than the tremendous FA Cup victory from earlier this season. It was an epic Vale comeback as Tom Pope’s quickfire hat-trick sealed a 3-1 cup win. The highlights are worth watching for the excellence of Tom Pope’s hat-trick and the joyeous celebrations that follow…