Burton Albion v Port Vale preview – can Valiants bounce back against Brewers?

Burton Albion v Port Vale preview: after the disappointing away defeat to MK Dons can the Valiants regroup against Burton Albion?

Predict the score

Team news

The Valiants keep their injury news close to their chests nowadays but fans will hope that the likes of Mal Benning, Lewis Cass and Gavin Massey will all be in contention after the trio failed to feature against MK Dons. Striker James Wilson looks likely to remain on the sidelines.

Vale’s issues look to be upfront. Ellis Harrison scored his first goal in midweek but he was isolated for long periods at Stadium MK. One option for Darrell Clarke is to pair Harrison with Jamie Proctor, who came on from the bench on Tuesday night.

Burton will miss Conor Shaughnessy but are hopeful Calum Butcher will be fit to return. Cameron Borthwick Jackson is also expected to play albeit with a mask to protect a face injury. The Brewers have made six summer signings, with 19-year-old Everton loanee Tyler Onyango the latest arrival.

Pre-match quotes

Saturday’s game will be another difficult one but for different reasons. We need to bring the same intensity but there will be different aspects to the game. Port Vale will ask different questions, but the fundamentals will stay the same. I don’t want to put too much pressure on us. We just need to perform and if we perform really well then the result will come with us. But we really need to be at our game again because that’s what Port Vale deserve. They play from back to front a little bit quicker than Ipswich at times and have different types of striker, better in the air, and ask different questions from the defenders. We need to be even better on the second balls as they play quicker forward. The sharpness has to be there, the reactions there as well…

Burton manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Familiar faces

There are no players in either squad who have appeared for either side so on to…

Face from the past

Vale legend Stan Turner finished his playing career with Burton Albion. The tough-tackling defender was a key player in the famous Iron Curtain side of 1954 despite not speaking to fellow full-back Reg Potts due to a mutual dislike of each other.

Turner joined Vale in 1949 and left in 1957 after over two hundred appearances for the side.

Through the years…

The two sides first met in 2010 at Vale Park when it finished in a 3-1 win for the Valiants thanks to goals from Marc Richards (2) and Sean Rigg. Our first competitive trip to Burton ended in a 1-0 defeat.

One of the more memorable games was that 7-1 win in 2013 which helped the Valiants to promotion. A Lee Hughes hat-trick, Ben Williamson brace plus goals for Tom Pope and Chris Birchall secured the victory in front of a bumper crowd of 10,978.

Last time we met…

The two sides met in the FA Cup second round last season when two late goals from Dennis Politic earned the Valiants a 2-1 win.

From the archives

Were you paying attention?

Our traditional quiz…

1. Who is the current Burton Albion manager?
2. What was the score the last time the two teams met?
3. In which year were the club formed?
4. In what year did they enter the Football League?

Answers below (no cheating)…

1. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
2. Burton Albion 1-2 Port Vale
3. 1950
4. 2009