Wycombe Wanderers v Port Vale preview – can depleted Valiants pick up any valuable away points?
Wycombe Wanderers v Port Vale preview – the Valiants will be hoping there will be no fresh injury concerns as they travel to High Wycombe.
Match Info
Venue: Adams Park stadium | Date: 1st November 2022, 7.45pm | Competition: League One
Predict the score
Pre-match quotes…
We keep trying to look at the process and the performance and, if you get those things right then nine times out of ten you can pick up points…
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke
We were on top but we needed to put our chances away when we’re on top. You go through these periods but overall, I am pleased with the boys’ performance.
Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth
Port Vale team news
Vale fans this season will be used to changes but this match will see several enforced moves. Defender Dan Jones, whose recent form has been good, is ruled out because of five yellow cards. The natural replacement for Jones would be Connor Hall, who came on as a substitute on Saturday. Will Forrester is also a defensive doubt after being replaced at half-time and could be replaced by Nathan Smith, who was given a rare rest at the weekend.
Midfielder Ben Garrity is a major doubt after departing early through injury on Saturday and Tom Conlon, the sponsors’ player of the match, is likely to come in for him. David Worrall also left the field through illness so Vale will be hopeful he can play – if not Gavin Massey or Sam Robinson could play on the right flank.
Jamie Proctor is still some weeks away from playing and Funso Ojo and Brad Walker also look likely to miss this one through injury.
Opposition team news
Wycombe are one place below Vale in 13th after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Morecambe on Saturday. Christian Forino-Joseph could keep his place in the defence for the home side. His return on Saturday relegated former Vale player Jack Grimmer to the bench. Upfront, there is a familiar face in former Stoke striker Sam Vokes, who has three goals in twelve appearances this season. However, the club’s top-scorer is Albanian U21 International Anis Mehmeti who has six League goals to his name.
Man in charge
Absolutely no introductions are needed for former Port Vale wing wizard (and record sale) Gareth Ainsworth. He’s one of the most personable and talented lower league operators in the game. Ainsworth has been in charge for 534 games at Adams Park. He has led the club to two promotions during his ten years in charge and has a win ratio of 34%.
Familiar faces
The Valiants could line up against a former loanee in Scottish full-back Jack Grimmer. Grimmer played for the Vale in 2014 while on loan from Fulham. He made fourteen appearances and scored a solitary goal. After spells with Shrewsbury Town and Coventry City, he joined Wycombe in 2019 and has now made almost 100 appearances for the club.
Face from the past
There’s another Vale wing wizard who is also connected with Wycombe. Left winger Steve Guppy spent a five year spell with the Wanderers before a lucrative move to Newcastle Utd.
Through the years…
The two sides first met in 2000 when it finished in a 1-0 home defeat for the Valiants. The good news for the Vale is that they are unbeaten in their last three visits to High Wycombe.
Forward Ben Whitfield (pictured) is the last Vale player to score against Wycombe. That was in a 2-3 home loss in 2017.
Last time we met…
It finished in a goalless draw in front of 4,620 people at Adams Park back in 2018. Current Vale squad members Nathan Smith and David Worrall both played in that game.
Overall record
3 Port Vale wins | 7 draws | 6 Port Vale losses
From the archives
Images from Port Vale’s 2013 promotion including the celebrations at Adams Park during the season’s final game…
A brief history of…
Wycombe Wanderers were founded in 1887 and entered the Southern League in 1896. They won promotion into the Football League as Football Conference champions in 1992–93 under Martin O’Neill’s management. Wycombe made an immediate impact in the Football League, winning promotion out of the Third Division via the play-offs in 1994. They spent a decade in the third tier and reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 2001. The club secured promotion out of League Two in 2017–18 under the stewardship of Gareth Ainsworth, who then took the club to the Championship for the first time in the club’s history. They returned to League One in 2021.
Were you paying attention?
Our traditional quiz…
- Who is the current Wycombe Wanderers manager?
- What was the score the last time the two teams met?
- In which year were the club formed?
- In what year did they win promotion to the Football League?
Answers below (no cheating)…
- Gareth Ainsworth
- Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Port Vale
- 1887
- 1994